Triple Dangan Ronpa! Class Eighty's New School Life of Mutual Killing
by Rui Shimizu
Summary: Several years after the incident, everyone expected despair to have disappeared almost completely. Of course, in a story like this, that would not be the case. Sixteen new students are now trapped in a new Hope's Peak Academy founded to further push the influence of hope. Unfortunately, the founders of this academy didn't expect to have to deal with a repeat of despair...
1. Chapter One: Introductions

**Author's note: Hello, new reader! Thanks for checking out my story! After reading through this again, I realized that this is an absolutely crappy introductory chapter, and when I can find a break lasting several hours, it will be almost completely rewritten. It's basically the same as any other intro chapter for a story like this, except it's much too brief and doesn't really characterize anyone very well. If you have found yourself to be interested in reading this story and trying to solve the cases, please skip ahead to chapter two. Everyone is sorta reintroduced to remind the reader who's who and what they do, so it shouldn't do too much harm if you want to skip ahead. Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story at least a little bit! :D**

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><p>Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.<p>

-Charlie Chaplin

Something was odd. I had received an invitation to attend the Hope's Peak Magnet School, the most elite school in the country. I remember how I used to walk past it on my way to elementary school wishing I would one day have enough of any kind of talent to be among those elite.

Ha! Recently all I do is stay home, watch tv, and read mystery novels. Apparently staying at home and wasting my life away is all that I'm good at doing. I'm not even sure I'm still registered with my school. Though I guess I am, since I somehow managed to have my name placed in the lottery for the "average" high school students that weren't singled out as the most talented in their fields.

Anyway, I'm getting depressed just thinking about all this. I should probably think about what the hell is actually going on. Fifteen elite students (and me) were gathered in the gymnasium of what I guess is Hope's Peak, since the school symbol was painted on the floor. While we all sat there confused and trying to figure out who everyone was and why they looked so familiar, sudden strange music started playing. A half-white, half blue cat plush jumped up and sat down on the podium on the stage.

"Hellooooo, my Super High School Level Subjects! Welcome to Hope's Peak Magnet School, which has a history of housing the most elite students and preparing them for years of success in their respective fields! I'm your principal, Hanneko, and unfortunately, you hapless bastards probably won't even last a year in this academy!"

Uh... What? I think everyone in the gym could agree that this was the weirdest thing to happen today. Even me, who had awoken less than half an hour ago behind the stage in the gym. After I woke up, I started freaking out because I was somehow supposed to be at the auditorium at 8:00 for opening ceremonies, but I guess the venue was changed to the gym, since I've found everyone here. Everyone seemed scared and confused for the most part, but as time passed, they all mellowed out and started socializing. That is, until, the cat plush showed up, leaving us at this point in the story.

"What? How are YOU our principal? You're very obviously some weird feline animatronic device," said one girl. She had long, black hair and large brown eyes, as well as well-defined facial features and ridiculously long legs. Needless to say, she was kinda beautiful. But her voice was commanding, scary, and kinda foreign. Maybe South American.

"Oh ho ho ho, but I am. I've been placed in charge, as a sort of overseer for the forecoming events," said Hanneko.

"Events? Like athletic events?" The question came from a slim, yet muscular male. He had orange hair that stopped at his neck and purple eyes. He seems somewhat athletic, and I caught myself wondering what sport he played.

"Uh, no," said Hanneko. "Like Battle Royale meets Detective Conan type events!"

"Battle Royale? You mean like the movie?" That came from a boy with short red hair and black eyes. He has a serious look to his face. He kinda reminded me of an anime character from an old semi-popular show. Well, a male version of that character.

"Oh em gee, I love that movie! It's one of my favorite older movies," said a skinny blonde girl. She had long, somewhat unruly blonde hair and round green eyes. She was loud and seemed like the kind of person I would hate.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand. As many of you may know, Hope's Peak stayed closed for approximately ten years. Do you pampered brats know why?" Jeez, Hanneko didn't need to insult so much. But I do remember hearing rumors that a huge incident that pretty much tore the school apart from the inside had occurred. Some say it was linked to the destruction of civilization, but that was a while before most of us were born. By the time I was born, the world was showing signs of becoming safer and more trusting. People were nicer, according to my parents. In fact, there hasn't been a war in a decade in a half. Of course, there was still crime, but it was at all-time lows in most countries. I almost wouldn't believe it happened, but plenty of ruins around the area suggested otherwise. Apparently, they were everywhere.

"Ugh, not this conspiracy bullshit again," said a tall guy with blue hair and glasses. He had an air of pretentiousness about him.

"Yes, it's just that conspiracy bullshit! Before you bastards were born, this school held 15 students hostage and forced them all to kill each other. The sole purpose of this event was to plunge the world into despair! What started in these metaphorical halls extended into worldwide chaos! So, what does that have to do with you bastards, you ask? Well, we are going to recreate all of that!" The cat's expression stayed mostly the same, but its voice became excited.

"So, what are you saying?!" The blonde girl said. Her voice went from excited to scared.

"..." The cat didn't respond. "Eh, I'll come back and tell you in an hour. I feel kinda tired. Until then, feel free to socialize in here." Hanneko then leapt off the top of the podium and crawled behind the stage.

What. The. Actual. Fuck. The room was quiet for a moment.

"So... Maybe we should do as he says? I mean, we are going to be classmates," said a small boy with wavy purple hair. He seemed scared.

"Weren't you listening?! All that he was saying was leading up to us having to murder each other!" This voice came from a pale girl with blonde, curled hair and a frilly sweet-lolita getup.

"Uh, we don't actually know that. For all we know, that could have just been leading up to us having to solve the mystery of why the school closed, or a sort of 'reenacting' of what he claims to have happened," said a girl with long, white hair and red eyes. She looked somewhat familiar, but all I could think about was some government stuff. She must have something to do with that.

"True. Anyway, what are the chances of it even leading to that? We should all try to talk with everyone." This came from a black girl with shoulder-length silver hair. She was dressed somewhat officially.

"Yay! Neko-chan gets to make more friends!" The blonde girl again. She doesn't seem like she's worried at all about what may soon happen.

With that, each student started conversing as if that strange opening ceremony didn't happen. I mostly sat and watched, going unnoticed, like normal. Surprisingly, a girl walked towards me and stared at me. She had black hair that stopped about halfway down her back and was kept in a ponytail.

"Uh... Hi?" I wondered why she stared.

"Hi! My name's Nezumi Karafuto. I'm sorry if I'm being intrusive, but what's your name?"

That's not particularly intrusive, is it? "I'm Rin Nakauchi," I say. She seems a bit distraught.

"Dang it! I couldn't tell if you were a boy or a girl. I thought your name would give me a hint, but 'Rin' is a pretty unisex name, isn't it?" Wow. I've never run into this kind of question before. Then again, I don't get out much. I think I'm going to mess with this girl a bit.

"Sorry, even I don't know what my gender is. I just wish there was some way I could check." The look on her face is priceless.

"Oh, come on! You have to know!" I'm very clearly enjoying this, and her irritated face is only making this funnier.

"Okay," she said decisively. "Can you tell me what your Super High School Level talent is, then?" Nezumi looked eager, like she somehow would get a hint from that. Actually, now that I think about it, what is my Super High School Level talent? I have no talents...

"I... I actually don't know. I don't have any talents, I just stay at home and watch tv all the time." She's even more upset.

"Aw, come on! Wait, are you the lottery student? That would explain it," she said. "Oh, well, you can become the Super High School Level Socializer!" She then grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the crowd.

"Hey, what are you-"

"Ack! Who bumped into me?!" Oops. I accidentally hit the lolita girl.

"Oh, sorry, that was me," I told her. She didn't seem any happier with this closure.

"Well, watch it! This wig slips easily, and the fabric on this dress stains even more easily," she told me. That was kinda insulting. Do I really look that dirty?

"Oh, he/she didn't mean it! It was my fault for pulling him/her." Great. Mouse girl is sticking up for me now.

"He/she?" I recognized the voice as belonging to the pretentious glasses guy (sound familiar?). "You know you can use just one, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if Rin's a boy or girl," said Nezumi, sounding slightly upset.

"Hm... Now that I've got a good look at you, what are you? You look slightly androgynous." Great. Well, I guess it's mostly my fault, since more than one person can't tell.

"Well, whatever you are, watch it next time! I have a fondness for this dress, and I'd be very upset if I had to spend tonight detangling this wig," said the lolita girl. What talent could she possibly have?

"Hey, can I ask you guys someth-"

"You probably want to know our names and talents, don't you?" Interrupted again. By Glasses guy this time. "Don't worry, everyone's been asking everyone. I'm Tougo Hanai, the Super High School Level Interpreter," he said proudly. "I'm fluent in almost forty languages, and I like to translate popular young adult novels into different languages." Wow, that's actually pretty cool. I only really know Japanese and some words in English, so I'm impressed.

The lolita went next. "I'm Alice Darlington, the Super High School Level Lolita. I own my own lolita fashion brand, and am a pretty popular fashion icon in Japan." Well, that would explain why she has some familiarity to her appearance. I've seen a couple of her pictures in magazines, but I never knew her name. Speaking of which, that can't be her actual name. I know I said she was blonde, but that was revealed to be just a wig, and she has a very Oriental face. There's no way.

"Oh, I never told you my talent," Nezumi said to me. She decided to address the others as well. "I'm Nezumi Karafuto, the Super High School Level Artist," she said enthusiastically. Something was odd about how she said it, though... Almost as if it didn't fit for her to say it...

"Well, what are you?" I'm not entirely sure if Alice realized how rude she kinda sounded.

"I... I don't have a talent. I'm the lottery student," I said. Glasses looked somewhat disappointed.

"Well, I'm not really interested in making friends with someone without a talent. Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" Okay, now she must realize she's being rude.

"I'm good at staying in my house. Or, I was," I say somewhat sarcastically.

"Oh, really? Then you can be the Super High School Level Hikikomori!" Okay, I'm about done talking to this kid.

"Alice, I don't think you should be so mean," said Nezumi. Okay, is sticking up for the no-talent going to be her thing?

"I'm not being mean. If I were mean, I would say that Rin smells and has gross skin and a horrible fashion sense, but I'm not." Alice turned to me. "Don't worry, I'm sure someone will want to be your friend!" She patted my shoulder and left, confidence and sophistication in her walk.

"Well, that looked awkward," said the black girl, expressing exactly what I was feeling. "Hi, nice to meet ya, Jay Caraway at your service, the Super High School Level Businesswoman." She extended her hand to me. She really was all-business. It was somewhat intimidating.

I took her hand and shook it. "I'm Rin Nakauchi, the lottery student."

"Lottery? Like you won one to come here? I thought they meticulously evaluated students to invite to the school," she said. She probably didn't know much about the school's selection process. She must have come directly from the Western Hemisphere.

"Rin's the Super High School Hikikomori!" I'm not sure if Nezumi remembers that Alice said that as a joke...

"Hiki-wha?" Oh, right. She's not Japanese.

"It's a person that mainly stays inside his or her house and doesn't interact socially," explained Tougo.

"Oh. Well, you seem like a social person! You had the most people around you a while ago," Jay said. Her businesswoman persona seems to have melted away a bit. Really, I just want to get this over with. The sooner I find out about these people, the easier it'll be to observe.

"Yeah, you look confident to say that you don't get out much," said yet another new voice. A girl with dark green hair and yellow eyes walked over. "I'm Ying Yanmei, the Super High School Level Survivalist! You might have heard of me," she said confidently. She was right. I read her book a while ago about how she was stranded in a Japanese forest for two months with no food or shelter. She was the only member of her family to survive, and she became pretty popular for variety show hosts.

"Oh my gosh, I LOVED your book! It was so sad! I've been wanting to meet you!" God damn it, it's the blonde chick with the unruly hair. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Neko-chan Kawaii!" She can't be serious. That sounds like the nickname for an American anime enthusiast.

"I believe the term you're thinking is 'weeaboo,'" whispered Tougo. "If you're wondering how I knew, we're probably not the only ones thinking it." I was wondering how he knew, and that was what I was thinking. This guy might be dangerous.

"Uh... Nice to meet you, Kawai-san," said Ying slightly hesitantly.

"You guys can call me Neko-chan!" Another one with a fake name. This could get annoying.

"Okay, Neko-san-" began Nezumi, but she was cut off.

"It's Neko-chan. Neko-chan Kawaii." I swear to God.

"Uh... Sorry. Pleased to meet you! I'm Nezumi Karafuto, the Super High School Level Artist. What's your talent?"

"Hm... Are you sure you're an artist? You don't really look like one. But I digress. I'm the Super High School Level Fangirl!" Okay, now I'm just completely done.

"While it sounds like she's just being stupid, being a fan really is her talent. She's used her online presence to help idols she loves become number one. Heck, she even managed to help one obscure band become number one on the charts," explained the commandingly accented female voice from earlier. I turned to see the pretty girl that first questioned Hanneko.

"I'm Irina Esperanza," she said. That didn't tell me enough.

"If you don't mind my asking, what's your Super High School Level talent?" I was curious as to if my guess was correct.

"I'm not entirely sure. I'm a singer, actress, and model. I can't decide on which one is my Super High School Level talent."

"Oh, that's easy," interjected Neko-chan. "You are a Super High School Level Triple Threat!"

"Hm... I kinda like that," said Irina. A slightly mischievous smile crossed her face.

"Hey, Irina, where are you from?" Jay seemed pretty curious as well.

"Uh... Japan? I think you might be the only one from outside the country, Caraway-san. Or maybe you prefer Miss Caraway," said Irina.

"Either is fine, but I'd rather you guys just call me Jay," she said. Surprisingly informal for a businesswoman.

"Hey, I've only been living here for a couple of years," said Ying.

As they continued talking to Irina, I decided to slip away. Of course, with my luck, I managed to bump into another student.

"Ah, I'm sorry for bumping into you!" A girl with light brown hair said, bowing. She seemed painfully shy, and she was kinda average-looking.

"Oh, no, it was my fault." I wasn't paying enough attention.

"Um... I'm a makeup artist!" She seemed slightly scared. I'm guessing that's her talent...

"Hi. I'm Rin Nakauchi," I told her.

"Uh, are you the hikikomori that Alice mentioned?" Damn that Alice. Now that's going to be my title.

"Yeah, that's me..." I've never felt so awkward around a person before...

"Oh... I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable!" Am I really that easy to read? "I've been told that I tend to make people uncomfortable," she continued. Poor girl.

"It's fine. Just try not to be so shy," I said as I walked away.

"Wait!" She stopped me. "Uh... could you help me? You don't seem to get out much, but you still seem more comfortable around these people than me..."

I sighed. I guess I could use this to my advantage. "Okay, since you seem to have met most of the others, at least, can you tell me who they are and what they do? This could be practice for speaking more comfortably." Also, this way I won't have to "socialize" much more.

"Sure... That boy over there is the Super High School Level Architect, and the taller boy next to him is the Super High School Level Construction Worker. I think they are the only ones that knew each other before coming here," she said as she pointed to the small, purple-haired boy from earlier and the taller, more muscular guy next to him. He was tan with light blonde hair. He kinda reminded me of another older anime character...

"Those two are Tobiki Wakabayashi and Kenzo Tsukuru, respectively," she continued. "The one with the orange hair is Bunpei Furuda, and he's the Super High School Level Athlete. He's talking to Shinobu Murai, the Super High School Level Martial Artist. The albino girl is the Super High School Level Politician, Kotaka Ido, and she's arguing with the Super High School Level Diplomat, Yasushi Sugihara." My attention was directed to the arguing pair, and I caught myself thinking that they would make a very attractive couple.

The shy girl continued. "The one with the shoulder-length brown hair and the green eyes is Tamaki Yanaihara, the Super High School Level Costume Maker. I think that's it..." she said indecisively.

Not quite. I still don't know who she is.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Ko Yamamoto, the Super High School Level Makeup Artist!"

Just Ko? Not Michiko or Hanako or anything? As I was getting ready to ask, Hanneko appeared back at the podium.

"Are you hapless bastards done talking yet? I'm going to continue the ceremony," said Hanneko. "You all are here to recreate the school arena that was started years ago! The rules are simple. One of you will commit murder. After a couple hours of investigating, we will have class trials that include mandatory attendance on the parts of all of the students. If you can figure out who committed the crime, your pathetic lives will be spared, and only the culprit will be punished. If not, you all will be punished as the culprit walks free. Simple."

We stood shocked. Kill the people that we just spent time getting to know in exchange or freedom? I don't believe anyone here could do it, to be honest. Then again, we've only spoken to each other for a short amount of time.

"I'll hand you guys a rulebook as well as an ElectroID later, so try not to do anything stupid in the meantime. The killing can't start until you know the rules. If you kill someone in the meantime, I'll just punish you there." Hanneko stopped to scratch his ear.

"Like hell we'll kill each other at all! None of us will stand for this," said a boy with slicked-back black hair and blue eyes. I think Ko said he was the diplomat, Sugihara.

"Oh, you will. Someone always kills," said Hanneko. I still don't think we have enough information.

"Excuse me, Hanneko, exactly what do you mean when you say 'punishment'? You never explained."

"Isn't it obvious? The punishment is a ridiculously theatrical death!" Hanneko seemed a bit too excited about that last part.

"Aaah! You CAN'T be serious!" Bunpei spoke up again.

"Oh, but I am. Well, until then, some classrooms have been converted into dwelling areas. You're dismissed to find the doors with your images on them. All of the doors lock, and only the girls showers lock. Have fun exploring!" Hanneko then left the podium and disappeared behind the curtains. Most of us were still too shocked to say anything. Eventually, students left the gym, probably to find their rooms and learn the layout of the school. Really, I wasn't interested. I probably stayed in the gym for another half an hour, and then left. Oh, well, I said to myself. I'm sure we won't commit any crimes.

Well, I could only really be certain that I wouldn't.


	2. Chapter One: A First Victim!

The artist's job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence

-Woody Allen

"May I have your attention? Even though this is a school and you will have assignments to do, most of the school day is used by free time events. If you want, go outside your rooms, mingle, explore the school, stab someone in the eye and watch them bleed to death, all of that is perfectly fine and according to the rules. Speaking of rules, you can find your rulebooks and your ElectroIDs in your mailboxes. Nya, have fun~"

Hanneko's announcement was some strange combination of cheery, disturbing, and authoritative. Even so, I'm kinda glad that most of what we get to do here doesn't actually _involve_ school work. That's one less stressor we'll have to deal with when it comes to the class trials. I don't want to believe any will actually happen, though. I'm hoping that someone will realize what's going on here and try to break us out. Many of the people here are pretty famous, so I'm sure someone will notice that they've gone missing and try to find them…

Then again, I've learned not to rely too much on others.

Well, I guess I should go to check my mail. The contents may prove useful.

I opened my door, but I think I accidentally hit someone. I should probably note that this door opens outward…

"God damn—I mean, oh, no! My dress! It'll get dirtied by the floor," groaned Alice. Why does this always happen to me, God? Oh, well. Better apologize before she gets even more pissed.

I peeked around the door slowly. "Hi, Alice…" She looked irritated.

"Listen here, otaku freak! I paid a decent amount of money for _every single garment_ that I am wearing, and I don't want to have to try to get the stains out. This outfit should be as clean as when I put it on this morning—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, detangling wigs and whatnot. But I honestly didn't mean to hit you. See, the doors open outward and—"

"Look. I'm not interested in your pathetic apologies. I'm just going to tell you—"

"Ack! Alice! Your nose is bleeding!" And it was. I had a feeling she wouldn't believe me, though.

"Nice try, _hikikomori_, but I think I'd notice if there was blood on my fa—"

As she was saying that, she moved one of her hands to her nose. A dark pink was left there when she pulled it away.

"… AAAAAGH! I'm going to get bloodstains on my dreeeesssss," she sobbed. I took her hand and tried to lead her to some sort of area where there may be supplies to clean up her nose.

"No, you're not, just calm down and come with me," I said. I then realized that I had no idea where anything was.

"Uh…" I said. Nezumi Karafuto was walking past us.

"Hey, it looks like you two are—ah! Alice-san's nose is bleeding!" Her expression changed from happy to urgent in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, do you know if there's some sort of clinic around here? I'm still trying to learn my way around the school," I explained.

"Rin-chan doesn't know the way? No problem! I spent the last half-hour drawing up a map, so I think I can take her there," she said as she handed me a well-drawn map of the school.

"Wow, you did a really good job," I said.

"Thanks! I've had a lot of practice drawing maps," she stated proudly.

"I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T GET ME SOMEWHERE SOON I'M MAKING BOTH OF YOU PAY FOR THIS DRESS!" Oh, yeah. Alice.

"Oh! Right! Sorry," said Nezumi. She began to show us the way, but was interrupted by Alice.

"My dear darling mouse, if you don't mind, could you please take me to the clinic yourself? I'm not interested in winding up in any more 'accidents' due to Nakauchi," Alice spoke calmly, as if she was not just yelling at us thirty seconds ago.

"Uh, sure. Sorry, Rin-chan," Nezumi said to me, then took Alice by the hand.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did your nose start bleeding?"

"Nakauchi tried to kill me by slamming the door into me," she said. I. Swear. To. God.

They walked further away, and I somehow managed to become more worried and more relieved at the same time. I no longer had to deal with Alice, but I'm afraid now I'll be suspicious if a murder takes place. There's no way she's not going to make me look like the villain.

I wandered around more and found my way to the cafeteria. As I walked in, I noticed two guys sitting by the table, discussing something interestedly.

"Ah, it's one of our classmates! I'm Tobiki Wakabayashi, the Super High School Level Architect," said the smaller of the two. He stuck his hand out for me to shake.

I guess he didn't know me. Which is to be expected, since I never really introduced myself to him. "Uh… Hi. I'm Rin Nakauchi. I apologize, but I do not have any special skills," I said, embarrassed. I used to be fine with who I was, but being around so many talented people makes me feel kinda… inadequate…

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you have some sort of amazing talent," he said, smiling. He had a very innocent, trusting smile. It almost made me want to believe him. While I appreciate it, I don't really need his reassurance. I'm just a talentless kid.

He continued to speak. "This guy is Kenzo Tsukuru, the Super High School Level Construction Worker. He's my best friend as well as the person I trust the most for building projects," Tobiki said proudly. The larger, tannish one grunted a "hi." These two seemed like exact opposites. Where Tobiki was short with wavy purple hair, a smallish form, and pale skin, Kenzo was tall, tan, and muscular with pale blonde hair. I guess this is more evidence of the "opposites attract" idea…

"Oh, cool. It seems like you two are the only two that were friends before coming to this school," I said.

"Yeah. We didn't go to the same schools or anything, but we grew up together as neighbors and partners. We've been together for fourteen years," said Kenzo. I was a bit shocked. He doesn't seem like he spoke much. His voice was ridiculously deep for a teenage boy.

"Wow, fourteen years. I'm kinda jealous," I said. I tried to keep an impressed tone, but I actually was jealous. I've barely been able to keep actual friends, and these two seemed like they have a strong relationship.

"Heh, no need to be. Wanna see what we're working on?" Before I could answer, he showed me a plan for a building. The design seemed incredibly impractical, but it had an interesting look to it. Tobiki talked about it, his and Kenzo's life at home, and other things for about half an hour. Kenzo didn't say much during the conversation. A few minutes later, two more people walked in.

"I appreciate it, Alice-san, but lolita fashion isn't really my thing," said a really cute girl with shoulder-length light brown hair and large green eyes. I think Ko introduced her as the costume maker, Tamaki Yanaihara.

"But Tamaki-chan, you're literally the perfect fit for a dress I designed a while ago! Please at least try it on? I wanna see how it looks," said Alice. I see that her nose has stopped bleeding and her dress is unharmed.

"Thanks, but really…"

"Pleeease? It'll look beautiful on you," said Alice nicely. I didn't realize she could be so nice. It seems kinda like she really only hates me. Okay.

"Uh, I know I'm not really part of your conversation, but I think you'd look pretty in lolita," said Tobiki. "Don't you agree, Ken-kun?"

Kenzo grunted a "yeah," then got back to looking at the design.

"See? Even he thinks you'd look cute. You're a pretty girl, so you should be more confident," said Tobiki encouragingly.

"Oooh, I forget, you guys don't know. I'm actually a boy," said Yanaihara.

"Wha—HUH?! But you have such a cute face! I refuse to believe a boy can be that cute," said Alice. She probably didn't mean it to be, but it sounded kinda rude.

"Uh… Well, Tobiki-san has a sort of innocent look to him," said Yanaihara defensively.

"I guess, but he has more of a boyish look," said Alice.

"Also, there's Nakauchi-san," said Tobiki.

"Nakauchi is more androgynous. Plus, there's nothing at all cute about Nakauchi!" Well, that hurt a bit.

"Ah! Nakauchi-san, I'm sure she doesn't really mean it!" Tobiki tried to help, but I'm actually fine. Something like that might have hurt more, but then I realized it came from Alice. I think I'm good.

"Whatever," said Alice. "I rarely say something that I don't mean, by the way."

"Actually, now that I think about it, what _are _you, Nakauchi-san?"

A bell rang.

"Nya, may I have your attention? Everyone must now meet in the theater. Attendance is mandatory for all students. Try to make it on time~"

I got scared. Was this one of the class trials? I didn't even know who died! I've had no chances to investigate.

"Oh, no," said Kenzo. Hearing even him worrying did nothing to ease mine.

"Hey, Nakauchi-san, wanna walk with—" Yanaihara started speaking, but Alice grabbed his hand and walked away.

"Come on, I've got other designs to show you! I've made boystyle designs, too!" She walked away excitedly, making sure to not let him finish his question. Oh, well. I walked out of the cafeteria, and Tobiki and Kenzo followed.

"So, do either of you guys know where the theater is?" Couldn't hurt to ask. I still had no idea where I even was.

"Sorry, but as soon as we left the gym, we wandered into the cafeteria. We haven't seen the rest of the school yet," said Tobiki.

"Yay! Rin-chan's made more friends!" Nezumi found me again. I just noticed, she's calling me by my first name.

"Hello, Karafuto-san," said Tobiki.

"Yo," said Kenzo. Wow, seems like Nezumi's been doing a good job at making friends. She even got Kenzo to greet her without prompting. Wait, there's something Nezumi showed me earlier…

"Hey, Nezumi, can you lead us to the theater?"

"Sure thing. I made copies of the map I showed you in the library. One for you—" she handed one to me—"And here's two more for you," she said as she handed the other two a map. I can see that she made some improvements to it.

"Come on, let's go! At first I wasn't able to get to the area where the theater was, but Hanneko must have unlocked it since then, because I was able to find it a while later," said Nezumi. "Also, I was scared to go too far in, so I don't know if there's anything behind it, yet. Sorry about that."

She pointed out places to us on the way there. Turns out that the theater was on the opposite end from the cafeteria and the gym.

We were the last ones to make it. The theater was impressively big considering it's for a school. The seats were lined with burgundy leather, and each one had a plate with the row and seat coordinates. The stage looked as if it hasn't even been stepped on. The lacquered finish looked new, and the burgundy curtains contrasted well with the light brown wooden floor. Needless to say, I liked how this room looked. It's a nice, spacious change from the other rooms in the school.

"Uh, hello? Earth to Nakauchi, we're starting this meeting soon," called Hanneko's voice. A few students giggled.

"Now that you're done with your space trip, find a seat close to the front with the rest of the students, you four," said Hanneko.

"Don't worry," Nezumi whispered. "I was impressed at first, too."

"Okay, now that we're all here, let's start. Is there anything you guys have discovered within the past couple of hours?" Hanneko seemed eager to see what we knew.

"None of us have cellphones," said Jay.

"Yes, I confiscated most of them. Can't have you guys calling and worrying your families, now can we? If you had no one to contact, you probably still have a phone," explained Hanneko.

"I still have mine," whispered Ying, who was sitting in front of me. She started to look upset…

"Also, there are some locked doors. They don't seem to be for classrooms," said Nezumi.

"Nya, that's because they're not. I'll explain more about those later," said Hanneko.

"The kitchen's full of food! It's unbelievable," said the athlete.

"Yeah. It's restocked every other day," said Hanneko. Some things around here are way too convenient.

"Anyway, for the real reason behind this meeting. I'm sure at least a few of you realized I'm not too interested in hearing stuff that I already know. I explained earlier that you guys will have assignments to do while you're here…" Hanneko seemed to be waiting for someone to say something.

Irina complied. "Yeah…?"

"Well, for your first assignment, you guys will be putting on a play! From the start of the writing to the final curtain call, you Super High School Level Bastards will create a theatrical masterpiece that doesn't suck! Participation is mandatory, and you all have individual assignments that help build the play up!" Hanneko seemed really excited.

"So, you mean, we're going to perform in front of people?" The one to ask this was Irina. I expected her to be excited as well, but she sounded hesitant.

"Kinda. Anywho, for your assignments. Yamamoto, Alice, and Yanaihara. You three are responsible for costumes and makeup. Murai, Tsukuru, Karafuto, Furuda, and Wakabayashi are set designers and builders as well as running crew. Jay and Kawaii are responsible for promoting the play—"

"Wait, so we'll be able to make contact with the outside world? That seems odd," said Jay.

"Yep. But don't pull any tricks, or you'll be punished severely," explained Hanneko. "Anyway, Hanai and Ying are responsible for the script. Ido and Sugihara, you two will be directors." Hanneko finished reading off his list. "Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah, what exactly am I supposed to do?" Irina asked this. She and I were the only two with no clear assignments.

"Isn't it obvious, dear? You'll be the star," said Hanneko.

"Uh, I can't be the only performer in this entire show," said Irina.

"Of course not. All of you will be starring! Exceeeeept…" He looked in my direction. "Nakauchi. You're not listed here for anything. Uh… You're responsible for the program and consessions. Any more questions?"

"Uh, yeah. Exactly when is this play being performed?" Hanai asked this.

"In three days!"

"WHAT?!" Alice yelled. "We can't write a script, build sets, advertise, and design costumes in three days!"

"Not to mention having to memorize it all," added Yanaihara.

"Too bad. Almost all of you will participate. The only ones excused will be anyone that's dead. Get to work! You guys should be able to find all that you'll need around here. Good luck!" With that, Hanneko leapt off the stage and into the unusually deep orchestra pit.

Everyone dispersed into their groups after a few minutes. I was getting ready to leave, but I was stopped. This time by Tougo Hanai.

"Nakauchi. Since it seems like you don't have a group, you can help me. I can already tell that Ying isn't going to be of much use," he said condescendingly.

"Oh, Hanacchi, we should make it a futuristic-type action movie with electrolight swords and space ships!" Ying was stating some… extravagant ideas.

"I already told you, we need something that's reasonable. I'm not sure we even have a budget for something like that. Plus, it's not a movie. It's a play," said Tougo. He then turned to me. "You see what I have to deal with? So, I figured—"

"Sorry, kid, but I'm not doing this," I explained.

"What? Rin, aren't you worried about what he may do?" Nezumi, who I didn't even think could hear us, started running in my direction.

"Uh, you mean Hanneko? Probably nothing," I said.

"I wouldn't chance it," said Hanai.

"Yeah," said Nezumi. "If he'll kill you for just breaking a rule, imagine what kind of trouble you'll get in for direct defiance of him!"

While I didn't want to admit it, she had a point. While I'm not exactly thrilled about living, I'm less thrilled about dying.

"Fine, fine," I said reluctantly. "So, what kind of story is it?"

"Whatever it is, it's definitely not involving electrolight swords," he said half-jokingly.

We all worked on stuff for this assignment for about three hours, then decided to break for lunch. I'm not entirely sure what Hanneko's trying to do, but this is actually helping a lot of us get our minds off our current situation. I'm not sure if that should worry me or not.

After I finished eating, I decided to wander the school some more using Nezumi's map. It's ridiculously accurate. I wound up going to the gymnasium again. The martial artist was in there, kicking at the padded wall on one end of the room. He spotted me.

"Hey," said Shinobu. "You're the one that tried to kill Alice, right?"

"Uh, no," I said. "That was an accident."

"Hehe, I'm kidding. The way she explained it to me made it sound like you were, but I kinda managed to figure out that it wasn't on purpose," he said.

I groaned. "So, she's actually telling people I tried to kill her?"

"Yep. But don't worry about it. She's the only one taking it seriously," he explained. "So, I should introduce myself. I'm Shinobu Murai, the Super High School Level Martial Artist," he said as he kept kicking.

"Hi. I'm Rin Nakauchi. I don't have a title," I said, hoping this could get the word _hikikomori_ off my name.

"Yeah, I've heard. Don't let that bother you, though. Titles don't define anyone's character," he said. Seems like everyone wants me to feel fine about being mediocre.

"So, which martial art do you practice?"

"All of them."

"All? How?"

"Well, not really all. Just whatever I feel like practicing at the time. I've learned techniques from karate, aikido, judo, kung fu, sambo, muay thai, Chinese kempo, tae kwon do, and some others that I forgot. Right now, I'm practicing capoeira."

Wow, this guy's intense. "I bet you're really disciplined, then," I said.

"Well, I've learned to be. I try to practice for at least two hours every day, along with other exercises," he explained.

"Can I ask why?"

"Sure. I do it for defense, whether it be of myself or of others. When I was in elementary school, some middle schoolers would bully me every day because of my hair. Almost everyone there had black or brown hair, and as you can see, mine is red. I asked my mom if she could help, and she brought me to an old man. He instilled in me how necessary it was for me to be able to defend those in trouble, including myself.

A week later, one of the middle school kids tried to hit me. I managed to block his punch, which startled him. He tried to hit me again, but I managed to dodge all of them. After one more attempted hit, I blocked him, moved directly next to him, and managed to land a kick right at the back of his leg, causing him to fall and hurt his head. Needless to say, he and his friends never bothered me again, and I realized that I actually enjoyed learning martial arts since it helped me stand up to one of my fears. Also, I almost got expelled, but that's a different story, heh," he recounted.

"That was an interesting story. But that seems unusual. Physical bullying is rare, so why didn't someone intervene when they saw it?"

"I—I don't know," he said. "Maybe it looked like playing to passers-by."

"Oh," I said, uncertain. He spoke again.

"There was another incident. In my second year of middle school, I saw a girl being harassed by one of the high schoolers. Despite her insistence, he wouldn't leave her alone. Both of them began to get angry, and as I saw the guy raising his hand, I felt like I had to stop it. I jumped in front of the girl in time and landed a punch in his jaw while blocking the hit. Turns out his mother was the principal of my school, and I actually did get expelled then," he said. "The girl never even looked at me after that, though. I'm not sure why. But I can't _stand_ when people try to take advantage of the weak," he said somewhat angrily. I decided to leave him for a while. I said bye, and wandered around the school a little bit more. Nezumi's map didn't have the amphitheater completely filled out, so I decided to go make that part for myself. Plus, I kinda wanted to see the theater again.

I made my way there and walked behind the curtains. There was a door that led to a huge, messy room full of tools, building supplies, and pieces to old sets. Well, I can see that this is some sort of prop and set room. I began to fill that in on my map, and walked further into the spacious room.

Oh, how I regret doing so. Nothing I could do could prepare myself for what I would see. Lying on a platform in a pool of pink was the Super High School Level Construction Worker, Kenzo Tsukuru. I screamed, but all that came to find me was blackness…


	3. Chapter One: The First Trial!

"Rin-chan! Rin-chan! Wake up!"

I awoke to the frantic shouting of… a girl… When I opened my eyes, Nezumi was there leaning over me. She was crying. After she saw that I was awake, she hugged me tightly.

"Waaah! Rin-chan, I'm so glad you're okay! I was worried that someone attacked you! Nobu-kun heard screams, and then I realized that I couldn't find you, so we went to look for you and—"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I interrupted her. "Besides, I'm not the one you should worry about…"

"What do you…" As she was saying this, she looked forward and noticed Kenzo's body. She started crying again.

"Tsu-Tsu-Tsu… TSUKURU-KUN! Oh, my God, where's Tobi-kun?! He's going to be devastated when he finds out," said Nezumi. Shinobu walked further into the room, towards Kenzo's corpse. A single (manly) tear fell from one eye.

"How… How could I have let this happen?..." Poor guy. He probably feels like this is his fault. After hearing his stories, I'm sure he would have tried to prevent something like this.

Nezumi walked towards Shinobu and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said. "It's not your fault."

"No… it's not okay," he said. He was quiet for the rest of the time there.

"Hey, guys, what are you—AAAAAH! NO! Tan blonde guy!" A new voice. It went from unaccented to South American. I turned to see Irina and Jay enter the room.

"Nya nya nya NYAAAA ~! Hello, you hapless bastards! This is the first time you've heard an announcement of this nature, so let me explain a bit. This is a Corpse Discovery Announcement! That's right; one of your friends has been murdered by one of you jerks! Nya ha ha! It hasn't even been nine hours since school started! Anyway, these announcements go off after at least three people have discovered a dead body. I'll give you guys time to investigate as well as a sort of crime report, because I am nothing if not fair. Check your ElectroIDs in a couple of minutes. Good luck~"

Wait, how could Hanneko have known that anyone had died?

"I've got hidden cameras everywhere, nya," said Hanneko.

"Aaah! When did you get here?" Jay asked what I'm guessing we all were thinking.

"That's not important. Anyway, I just came here to answer Nakauchi's question. Later nya~" he said as he left. Okay, I can't be _that_ easy to read.

Jay checked her ElectroID. "There's something new here. It says 'Monokuma File #1.' What does 'Monokuma' mean?"

"Hell if I know," I said.

"Maybe Glasses-guy can help! He's a language expert," said Irina.

"That's right… I need to find the others," said Shinobu kinda dully. He seemed like he had the life sucked out of him as he left the room.

"Anyway, Jay, can you read what the file says? It's probably the thing Hanneko was sending out," I said.

"Sure thing," she said.

" 'The victim is Kenzo Tsukuru. Time of death is approximately 3:00 p.m. The body was found in the set and props room in the theater of the main building. The victim appears to have blunt force trauma and bruises to the head, which is covered in and surrounded by blood. If you experience similar problems while taking the medications, please call… oh, wait, this isn't a—' WHY THE HELL IS THIS WRITTEN IN HERE?! Damn that stupid plush toy," said Jay angrily.

Three? I started thinking… Where was I at three?

"About half of us were in the cafeteria at three… we need to find out who all left before then," said Irina. Her voice had changed to a Japanese accent again.

While they were doing this, I went closer to Kenzo's body. His head appeared to be completely bashed in with something. Upon closer inspection, I noticed he had an oddly-shaped bruise on the back of his neck. It looked sort of like a bold "x." He also had some dark hairs in his hand… That's weird…

"Okay, so, we know for certain that Rin-chan, Alice, Jay, Iririn, Tougo-kun and me were still in the cafeteria by three," said Nezumi.

"Yanaihara-san was probably still there, too, since Alice has been following her all day," said Irina. So, she hasn't found out yet. I can't wait to see her face when she does.

"Also, Tsukuru-kun asked Tobi-kun to meet with him about something about 15 minutes after we started. I haven't seen Tobi-kun since," said Nezumi.

At this time, Tougo opened the door to the room. He was panting.

"I… ran… all the way… tamper… prevent… culprit… water… please…"

"Okay, okay, stop talking. You'll start panting more," said Jay. "Hey, can anyone get this guy some water?"

"There's a fountain in this room, past Tsukuru-kun," said Nezumi. She appears to have calmed down for the most part. She still had some tears in her eyes, though.

"Hm… He does have a good point, though," I said. "Someone probably needs to stay and guard the body to keep someone from messing with anything."

"I'll be able to do that," said Irina. "I probably won't be of much help during the investigation, but I can at least help with this." Her accent still isn't back.

"Okay. But I think someone should stay with you," said Nezumi.

"Why? Do you think I might mess with evidence?"

"No, no! Not at all. It's just that, what if the killer comes back? He or she might try to fight you, too."

"Oh, so you think I won't be able to take them on?"

"No! I mean—"

"Hehe, it's okay, I'm just messing with you," said Irina. She smiled jokingly.

"Anyway, if you two are done with your exchange, I'd also like to volunteer to keep watch," said Tougo as he returned from the other end of the room.

"Okay. Thanks. We should probably all start. Plus, we need to communicate with the others," said Nezumi.

"Oh, that's easy," said Jay. "The ElectroIDs also have a messaging setting. All of our contacts are already loaded in, plus some other weird names. Maybe former students."

"How'd _you_ find that out?" Tougo and his condescending tone again.

"I overheard Neko and Shinobu talking about it," said Jay.

Oh, right. I forgot about Neko. In any case, I should probably find some of the others. Quite a few people were in here, so they could probably find enough clues between them.

I decided to try to find Tobiki. Those two were practically joined at the hip before this… Come to think of it, where could Tobiki be? I tried to figure this out as I walked back to the other end of the school. I'd probably get more info from all the members of the running crew, now that I think about it…

I found the door with Tobiki's face on it. This must be his room, I thought. I tried knocking on the door.

"Um… Wakabayashi-kun…." I knocked again, and he opened the door slightly.

"I know… it's all my fault…"

Jeez, does everyone here have a guilt complex? Then again, this case is understandable. His best friend was killed.

"It's not your fault, Wakabayashi-kun."

"Yes, it is…. I… could have saved him… I saw him… it's my fault…"

He saw something? "Wakabayashi-kun, can you please tell me what you 'saw'?"

"Please… I can't… I'm sorry…"

He closed the door. Well, that was… awkward… But it may help somewhat. I decided to try to find Bunpei next. As I passed my room, I remembered that I still didn't get my ElectroID. After I picked it up and activated it, I saw the homescreen. I had one new message from Nezumi.

* * *

><p>Message from Nezumi Karafuto, received 5:03 p.m.<p>

Rin-chan! Can you meet with me in about ten minutes? I have more information to share.

* * *

><p>Why couldn't she tell me through this? I began to respond, but then I noticed that there was something that counted down from one hundred. There must be a character limit.<p>

* * *

><p>Message to Nezumi Karafuto, sent 5:04 p.m.<p>

Okay. I'm looking for Bunpei now, so you may find me by him.

* * *

><p>I played around a bit more with the ElectroID. There was an application with real time student locations. The only name I couldn't find was "Kenzo Tsukuru."<p>

Bunpei's location is in the gym. When I arrived, I saw him playing basketball. I've never spoken to this guy before, so I don't know exactly how to approach him…

"Yo," he said. I guess I don't have to.

"Uh… yo. Why are you here?"

"Not really one for investigating. But I'm not worried, I trust you guys."

He's not taking this seriously enough. "Anyway, you were part of the set crew with Kenzo, right?"

"Yep. Didn't see anything in him or his friend change, if that's what you mean. They were pretty much together like they normally are."

"Oh. Okay… Well, have you noticed anything at all?"

He kept dribbling the ball. "Not really. Well, I did, but it's probably got nothing to do with the investigation."

"What is it?"

"There are some star indentations on the padded wall over there," he said. "Some of them overlap, but it's almost definitely stars."

Well, that doesn't seem very useful, honestly. I thanked him for the information and then left. I began to make my way back to the theater. Maybe some people there found some new evidence. Again, I ran into Nezumi.

"Hey, Rin-chan! The girls and I found out when everyone left the cafeteria," she said triumphantly.

"Awesome. Tell me."

"Okay. At the time of Tsukuru-kun's death, you, me, Tougo-kun, Iririn, Jay, Alice, and Tamaki-chan were still in the cafeteria. Some time between 2:50 and then, Ying and Neko left. At around 2:50, Bun-kun, Yasushi, and Kotaka left. Also, Shinobu also left around the same time as Tsukuru-kun and Tobi-kun, which was about 2:45."

"What about Yamamoto-san?"

"She… I think she went to eat lunch in her room. She left around 2:35," she said.

"Okay."

"Also, I saw her walking towards the theater a while ago," she added.

"Alright. Thanks for the information. You've helped a lot," I commended her. She blushed a bit.

"Thanks," she said. "I'm going to try to see if I can get into Tsukuru-kun's room. Later!"

"Later," I replied. I began to walk back towards the theater. I didn't see Ko yet. She might be by the prop room. I went back on stage again. I noticed someone moving, but the backstage area was too dark for me to see who.

"Is… is anyone there?" Okay, I admit it. I was a little scared.

"Huh? Hikikomori-san?" I heard a vaguely familiar voice. It had to be Ko's.

"Oh, it's just you, Yamamoto-san," I said.

"Yeah, I—AAGH!" I heard a thud and walked towards her.

"Oh my God, Yamamoto-san, are you okay? Sounds like you fell pretty hard," I said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. This happens pretty often," she said.

"Anyway, what did you trip on? I can't see anything."

She then picked up a fallen curtain. "Huh? There's something in it," she said. She then pulled out a thick piece of wood. It was about a meter long, and it had pink stains on one end. Looked like someone tried to wash it off…

"Yamamoto-san," I said. "I think you just found the murder weapon." She looked upset.

A bell rang.

"Excuse me? Can I have your attention? Investigation time is soon coming to a close. Do any last-minute lookovers and meet me in the gymnasium. The class trial will start promptly at 6:15. Thank nya for listening. Bye~"

Oh, no. It's 5:55 now. It takes about 15 minutes for us to walk to the other end of the school. We only have a few more minutes to investigate…

"Yamamoto-san, have you found anything else out?" There may be more evidence around here.

"Uh… no…" She leaned against a wall, and the backstage area was filled with light startlingly quickly.

"Ah! I got worried for a second," she said, then giggled.

"Me, too…" I turned to where the curtain seemed to come from. There was a bloodstain on the floor.

"There's a small blood stain on this curtain," said Ko.

"Yeah, there's one small one on the floor, too… I think we should get going… It takes about 15 minutes to get from the theater to the gym," I said.

"Oh… Okay," she said. Tougo, Jay, and Irina came back from the backstage area.

"Well, it looks like we should all go now," said Tougo. Everyone else agreed. I tried to go back over some things that may help the investigation while we were walking to the gym.

"So, did anyone else come to investigate in the prop room after I left?" I hadn't seen much of anyone else, and I was curious to see if they'd gone by.

"Yeah," Irina said. Her accent had returned. "Alice and Tamaki came by together, then they both left after asking us some questions. Then Ying came by. She didn't seem too phased by it. Alice and Tamaki both got somewhat upset."

"Ah. I see." So, Bunpei really didn't go to see what was going on. Neither did Tobiki or Neko…

We made it to the gymnasium. Almost everyone except Tobiki and Nezumi were there. It's 6:12…

"Hello, every-nyan! How did your investigations go? I bet that crime report was really helpful," said Hanneko.

"I don't want to hear that from you," said Jay. She's still pissed about the joke, it seems.

"Hey, where's Wakabayashi? He's going to be a pretty key part in this trial," said Hanneko. Of course he is. Maybe Nezumi's coaxing him out of his room…

"We're here," said Nezumi. She was holding Tobiki by the hand. His expression was about the same as Shinobu's. Both seemed to have the life sucked out of them, but Tobiki seemed… less dead inside, somehow.

"Alright! Now that everyone's here, we can proceed with the trial. Everyone, stand on the logo. I'll see you there~" With that, Hanneko jumped onto the stage and out of sight.

"Why do we have to—AAH! It's moving down!" Kotaka shouted. She almost fell off, but was caught by Yasushi. It appears that the circular logo also doubles as an elevator. Everyone else was trying to frantically squeeze onto it.

So, this elevator is leading us to the courtroom where the class trial will be held. Hopefully we've prepared enough to survive this trial.

* * *

><p>"Soooo? What do you guys think of the courtroom?" Hanneko asked us this when we arrived. The courtroom looked just like the theater, but the seats went full circle around the center of the room instead. There were sixteen wooden podia with burgundy leather on the top (probably for those that want to lean over), and one high, large chair lined with red velvet. Hanneko climbed onto that chair.<p>

"Excuse me, Hanneko-san, why are there sixteen podiums here? At any point when we'd come here, there wouldn't be more than 15 students," said Yasushi. He had a point.

"Just something I like to do to honor the dead. If you'll look closely, one of these podia has a picture of a certain someone behind it," he said. There was one with Kenzo's picture on it and a pink "X" through it. The "X" appeared to be drawn into a hammer and a manual screwdriver. Tobiki looked upset, then gave a forced laugh.

"Anyway, find your podium and stand behind it. It's time to start this trial!" Hanneko sat back on his chair.

I decided to begin. "So, what do we know about—"

Alice interrupted me. "Save it, murderer! We don't need to hear you try to defend yourself."

"I—WHAT?! WHAT THE _HELL_ MAKES YOU THINK I KILLED KENZO?"

"BECAUSE YOU'VE TRIED TO KILL BEFORE!"

"**OH MY GOD **THAT WAS A FUCKING ACCIDENT!"

"HEEEY!" Nezumi interrupted us. "Alice, what on Earth makes you think that Rin-chan killed Tsukuru-kun?"

"What are they even talking about? When did Nakauchi-san try to kill someone?" Yasushi asked this.

"She's referring to the accident they had earlier," said Ying. Jeez, is Alice trying to completely ruin me?

"ANYWAY! Can we get back to the subject at hand? Alice, take this more seriously," said Tougo.

"I AM! In fact, I have reason to believe so," said Alice.

"And exactly what could that be?" Irina asked this. Her accent is still there. I wonder why it goes away sometimes…

"My brown-eyed doe, don't you remember all those questions I asked you?"

"Uh… Kinda…"

"Let me help. Hanneko, can I ask you a question?"

"Nya, whatever," said Hanneko.

"How many people does it take for a Corpse Discovery Announcement?"

"At least three," said Hanneko.

"And does this include the culprit?"

"In this case, no. Three people besides the murderer would have to 'discover' the body," explained Hanneko. Shinobu's expression changed to… confusion?

"I thought so," continued Alice. "Thank you. Now, my darling mouse," she said, turning to Nezumi. "You arrived at the scene before the announcement, right?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Exactly. Now, Doe, if Nezumi is number one to arrive, which number are you?"

"Uh… Three?"

"Yes, that is correct. And did the announcement go off after this time?"

"Yeah…" She looked at me doubtfully.

"Alright. That has to mean that that _hikikomori_ is the one who killed him!"

"That's enough, Alice," said Tougo. "You're still letting your petty personal grudge get in the way of reaching a proper conclusion. Besides, Nakauchi has an alibi."

Huh? Oh, yeah…

"Nezumi," I said. "You have the list of times when people left the cafeteria. The time of death is about 3:00, according to the Monokuma File. Who was still there at that time?"

"Right. Rin-chan, me, Tougo-kun, Alice-san, Tamaki-chan, Jay-chan, and Iririn were still there," said Nezumi.

"She's right," said Tougo. "Alice, you should have been the last one to accuse Nakauchi considering Nakauchi was one of the last to leave the cafeteria. You were even making fun of how long it took Nakauchi to eat."

"Anyway," I said. "Can we get back to the trial? Nezumi, thank you."

"No problem," she said.

"So, maybe we should all take a look at the Monokuma File," I said. I read over it again. "Alright, the important information is that Tsukuru-kun died around 3:00. He has signs of blunt-force trauma to the head as well as bruising, and he was found in the props room."

"Hm… 'found' isn't a very specific word," said Neko.

"She's right," I said. "Really, if you think about it, just saying he was found there doesn't mean that's where he was killed."

"I… I know where he died…" Ko's voice was barely above a whisper.

"What was that? We can't hear you," said Kotaka.

"I said I know where he died. Or, I think I do," said Ko. I think I know what she means…

"Yamamoto-san, are you talking about the backstage area?" I remembered that we saw the board there…

"Yeah… That would explain why the courtroom is decorated like this, anyway…"

"I'm glad some-nyan appreciates my decorating work," said Hanneko. "Oh, the struggles of a starving artist."

"Tell me about it," whispered Nezumi.

"Yamamoto-san has more important information to share," I said. I could say it myself, but this could make for good practice for her.

"I… uh… there was a board…" she whispered. "It looked like it was used to kill Carpenter-kun. It also seemed like someone was trying to wash the blood off, but some staining set in. The board was also wrapped up in a fallen curtain. There were also bloodstains on the floor… probably being covered by the curtain…"

"Hm. That seems like pretty significant information," said Kotaka.

"While I'm not sure exactly how much it tells us, it does seem to give us the murder weapon," said Tougo. "Going back to the washed appearance, I did notice some bloodstains in the water fountain in the prop room. Naturally, I no longer felt thirsty after that."

"Moving on," he continued. "Did anyone look at the body?"

"I tried to," said Tamaki, "but the sight of it made me sick. There's a difference between killing someone and brutally murdering them. The culprit seemed to enjoy murdering him." Tobiki looked hurt. He hasn't said much, but Hanneko said he'd be key to this trial…

"I did a bit," I said, trying not to look at Tobiki. "He was facedown, and he had a weird bruise on his neck."

"How weird?" Tougo again.

"It was shaped kinda like a bold 'X'," I said. "He also had hairs in his hand."

"I saw those," said Nezumi. "I picked them out of his hand. They were purple…"

Tobiki looked at Nezumi, and she looked back. "Tobi-kun," she said. "Those hairs belong to you, don't they?"

"Y-yeah," he said. He went quiet again.

"And Tsukuru-kun did ask to meet you before 3:00, right?" Tobiki only nodded this.

"Don't tell me… Tobi-kun, did you kill Tsukuru-kun?"

Tobiki started crying after this.

"It all makes sense! I think I know what happened," Irina said in a Japanese accent. "As much as I don't want to think about it, it probably went down like this; Tan Blonde Guy asked Short Best Friend to go with him to the theater around 2:45. When they get backstage, Tan Blonde grabs Best Friend by the hair and then tries to kill Best Friend, but surprisingly, Best Friend fights back, picks up a stray board, and hits him with it, then knocking him out. In order to make sure he doesn't come after him again, he beats him over the head with it and then brings him to the prop room, where he then places Tan Blonde's body on the platform and goes behind it to the water fountain to wash it off!"

Many people seemed to think Irina's theory made sense. But something's not sitting right with me… Kenzo was significantly bigger than Tobiki… He couldn't have carried him all that way like that. Plus, Tobiki would be covered in blood stains…

"You've got that wrong," I said to Irina. "While there is some plausibility to your theory, it's riddled with inconsistencies. First, Wakabaashi-kun is small and thin. No offense to him, but I doubt he could carry his friend, who was taller and more muscular. Second, the blood stains backstage weren't very big at all. More like drops, to be honest. He'd have left stains everywhere if it happened the way you said it did." I could have continued, but I think two points is enough right now.

"Hmph. Fine," she said.

"Hey, can we get back to the body? I think you guys glossed over one detail," said Ying. "Nakacchi mentioned a bruise. Where was it again?"

"It was on his neck. Now that I think about it…" I tried to picture it again. The bruise's shape seemed to lead to… points on the ends…

"Furuda-kun!" I called to him. He seemed startled.

"Yeah," he responded.

"You said you saw stars on one of the padded walls in the gym, right? I asked.

"Yeah, I did. They kinda reminded me of some star shapes I've seen on an old anime show. Come to think of it, Ken kinda looked like one of the characters on the show…"

"Uh… right. Anyway, what exactly did those stars look like?" I have a hunch, and I'm almost certain it's correct.

"They only had four points, if that's what you mean," he said.

I've almost got it. There's only one possible reason those stars would be there… Kicks!

"I know who did it," I said definitively.

"Well, don't just stand there! Tell us who," said Tougo.

I turned to face the culprit. "It was Shinobu Murai."

He looked at me, but neither confirmed nor denied it.

"What? How? I doubt that's true," said Alice.

"It is," I said.

"What would stars on the wall have to do with him?"

"When I met him in the gym, it was after the murder had taken place. He was kicking the wall. After that, I discovered the body and noticed the bruise after awakening. When I went back to the gym to try to speak to Bunpei, he pointed out that there were star indentations on the padded wall where I saw Shinobu kicking."

"That's silly. How could he have stars on his feet?"

"More than likely part of the shoe's design."

"Then why isn't he covered in blood?"

"Remember the curtain that was mentioned earlier? He probably wrapped Tsukuru-kun in that, then brought him to the props room."

"Well, if he killed him there, why did he bother even bringing him?"

"Killed with a single kick to the head? Very few people could probably kick Tsukuru-kun in the neck and actually do enough damage to him. Murai-kun probably realized this and tried to make it look like he was killed some other way."

"That's stupid."

"That's a stupid argument."

"Nothing you're saying makes sense!"

"It makes perfect sense if you think about it."

"Anyway, you still haven't proven that Murai-kun did it! He devotes himself to the protection of others. **There's no way someone like that could kill someone.**"

"And that's precisely where you're wrong, Alice."

"W-What?!"

That was exhausting… "Let me explain what I've realized. That's exactly why he killed Tsukuru-kun. While Irina's theory was mostly wrong, she was right about at least one thing: Tsukuru-kun tried to kill Wakabayashi-kun.

First, let me tell you what Nezumi told me earlier. From the beginning, when just looking at lunch, almost everyone has an alibi except Yamamoto-san, who left after getting food, Wakabayashi-kun, who left with Tsukuru-kun, and Murai-kun, who left shortly after the two friends. Murai-kun probably had the same suspicions as Irina, and was worried for Wakabayashi-kun's safety. He had observed them from the darkness in the backstage area, since it's pretty hard to see. Tsukuru-kun and Wakabayashi-kun were probably in the lighter area, closer to the stage. When it looked to him that Tsukuru-kun was about to hurt Wakabayashi-kun—i.e., after Tsukuru-kun grabbed Wakabayashi-kun's hair—Murai-kun ran out of the shadows behind Tsukuru-kun and killed him with a single blow to the neck, leaving the bruise there.

Wakabayashi-kun probably left around this time. He was so devastated, he could barely speak in full sentences, and he blamed himself for Tsukuru-kun's death—more than likely because he had seen Murai-kun commit the crime. Murai-kun, realizing what he had done, tried desperately to come up with a plan. He decided to hide the body in the props room, putting it on the platform. He then decided to bash Tsukuru-kun's head in with the wooden board that Yamamoto-san found. It was probably just a board laying around in the room, which had building supplies everywhere. This was probably to make it seem like he was not the one to do it, because, honestly, hitting someone with a board doesn't seem like something an accomplished martial artist would do.

After wrapping the body in the curtain and bringing it to the room, he created the scene, then tried to wash the board off with the water from the water fountain in the room. When he realized the board still had stains in it, he tried to hide it in the curtain that he used to wrap Tsukuru-kun's body, then use that to cover up the bloodstain on the floor backstage.

At this point, he probably realized that he'd done something regrettable and terrible. He ran back to the gym, and decided to practice capoeira, more than likely to vent his frustrations physically or get his mind off the incident. I met with him there about thirty minutes before I left to see the theater."

Most of them seemed to accept my theory as true.

"Oh, that makes sense! Nobu-kun was the third person to see the body after Rin-chan, but the announcement only went off after Iririn saw him," said Nezumi.

"Right," I said.

"Wait," said Neko. "That doesn't explain the bloodstains on the floor. If all he did to him in the theater was kick him, how did they get there?"

"Kenzo's nose was bleeding," said Tobiki.

"Wakabayashi-kun?" I was surprised.

"I'm sorry, Shinobu-kun," said Tobiki. "While I appreciate that you've given me a second chance at life, and I owe you that much, I can't sacrifice the others for only your sake."

"That's fine," Shinobu said.

"Nakauchi-san's theory is exactly right," said Tobiki. "While I don't want to accept it as true, my best friend was trying to kill me…"

"Tobi-kun…"

"So, are you guys ready to cast your votes on who you think the culprit is?" I had almost forgotten about Hanneko. "Never mind, we may as well start anyway. Will you all be right, or will you be oh, so wrong?"

After what seemed like a taunting amount of time, all of the ballots were cast.

"You all… are CORRECT! The culprit in this case is the Super High School Level Meowrtial Artist, Shinobu Murai," said Hanneko.

"Wait," said Shinobu.

"Ugh, what is it now?" Alice seems a bit too impatient.

"Hanneko, you said something earlier. The Corpse Discovery Announcement goes off after three people discover a corpse?" I think I see where Shinobu was going with this.

"Nyeah, what of it?"

"Then… why didn't it go off after Nezumi-san saw it?"

"Oh, that? Simple. At that point, Kenzo Tsukuru wasn't dead."

I was floored. From the look on everyone's face, so were they. Especially Shinobu.

"W-WHAT?! You're lying!"

"Nyow, I may withhold secrets about the school, but I don't lie. Or, at least, now I'm not," defended Hanneko. So, Murai-kun wound up killing Tsukuru-kun intentionally… on accident?

This is why I hate irony.

"Yep. You jumped to conclusions again. Just like you did in middle school."

Shinobu looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Surely you remember. The girl you had a crush on, who was being 'assaulted' by that highschooler? Turns out she asked him to help her make a video about girls speaking up against rape and domestic abuse for her club. The boy you attacked was actually her boyfriend."

Wow. I can almost feel the agony I see expressed in Shinobu's face. He thought he was saving that girl, but he ended up ruining her project…

"Now that that's out of the way, it's Super Special Custom Punishment Time!" Hanneko pressed a button, and Shinobu was pulled away. We were directed to look at a screen in one part of the courtroom. Shinobu's scared face had appeared on screen. He was inside what looked to be the sort of 'skeleton' of a building.

"If he can break all the boards before the edifice is finished, he survives. If not, he'll end up killed," said Hanneko excitedly.

He started breaking boards left and right, but the construction worker was working really quickly. He started breaking the building down more quickly.

"Hey…" said Tobiki. He started tearing up again. I looked back to the screen and realized why. The building looked just like the one Kenzo and Tobiki designed together. Shinobu was still breaking boards. As he got the bright idea to break the boards in the middle and collapse the structure, the roof was being built. He hadn't realized this as he broke one of the support beams. The roof then collapsed in on him and killed him.

"AAAAAGH!" I was startled when I realized that scream came from me. I was angry as well. I turned to Hanneko.

"Listen here, you stupid robot," I said. "It's all YOUR fault that two of our friends are dead."

"Uh, no," he said. "It's the fault of one of your bonehead friends."

I did not acknowledge that comment. "We are all going to get out of here. But before we do, I'm going to tear you apart piece by piece," I said.

"Rin-tan's _kowai_," said Neko.

"Shut UP," I responded angrily.

"Nya ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Hanneko's laugh was stupidly sinister. "I'd like to see you try. In case you haven't realized yet, I'm the second most powerful being in this school. Well, later you hapless bastards! Step back on the logo if you want to leave the courtroom~"

The logo had already started lifting as he said this. Everyone tried to hop back on, and almost everyone made it. The only one who couldn't reach it in time was Neko.

"Minnya-san! Please wait for me!"

It was too late. I tried to ignore her cries. All I could think about was how much I wanted to destroy Hanneko and get out of this fucking school.


	4. Chapter Two: Play Work

Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness. Look deeply into life, and you'll always find despair.

-Irvin D. Yalom

Once we got back to the gym, I ran straight to my room. None of this was fair! None of it, none of it, none of it! Shinobu Murai and Kenzo Tsukuru are both dead, Tobiki is broken inside, and a group of teenagers had to condemn a friend to death just to save their own lives.

"GAAAH!" I punched a metal plate. I probably should have looked to see what I was hitting since it wound up hurting really freaking badly. My hand went numb for a second. Someone knocked on my door. My visitor quickly defeated the purpose of doing so since he opened the door a few seconds later.

"Glasses guy," I said. He gave me an irritated look.

"I'm pretty sure you already know most of our names by now. 'Glasses guy' is clearly an improper moniker in my case," he said.

"Not really. You're the only one here that wears glasses, and I don't remember your name, so…"

"Ugh. It's Tougo Hanai. Please remember it, it can't be that hard," he said. "Anyway, for the real reason behind my visit. I…" He hesitated.

"Yeah...?" I prompted him.

"I… came to see if you were okay. Don't take that the wrong way, the girls suggested I check up on you," he said hastily.

"If that's the case, why not send Mouse girl? It shouldn't have been that hard to figure out that I'm closer to her than to you," I said. He gave me another irritated look.

"She's with Wakabayashi. And if you're such close friends, why don't you call her by her given name? Or even her surname?"

"I dunno. I guess that's just one of my character flaws," I said. "Anyway, I'm fine."

"Uh, you don't look fine," he said as he looked at my hand. God damn it! It's started swelling.

"Anyway, why did you really come here if you're not truly interested in how I'm doing?"

"Heh, you catch on quick. The 'checking up on you' thing is what we needed Hanneko to hear." He stepped closer to me and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm _really_ really here to tell you that your little outburst in the courtroom didn't fall on deaf ears. You pretty much stated what everyone else was too scared to say. For that, we've decided to give you our full support. Well, the majority of us do," he explained. I didn't worry too much about that "majority" comment.

"So, I'm guessing there's more you're interested in telling me," I said.

He smirked and pushed his glasses back up on his face. "Yes, I do. But not now. It's getting late, and I need to do a bit more research," he said. "One last thing. Ido's having a meeting tomorrow morning after Hanneko makes his announcement."

"Announcement? He never said anything about morning announcements."

"It was mentioned in the handbook. Did you even regard it?"

"Uh… no."

"Well, you should. It may be helpful for you." He left without another word.

Finally. It was getting a bit uncomfortable having that guy in my room. I'd actually forgotten about the handbook. Oh, well. I'll check it out tomorrow. I'm really tired right now. A bell rang.

"Excuse me, may I have your attention? It is now 10:00. Nighttime has commenced. I recommend not going out if you want to prolong your miserable lives, but that's your choice in the end. Good night~"

Ugh. That was just as uncomfortable as Tougo's visit. Tougo? God damn it, I remembered his name. Oh, well. That's the least of my worries now. It didn't take long before I was fast asleep.

* * *

><p><em>Fire. Smoke. Blood. The world is burning before my eyes. Tall structures are collapsing. Men in strange masks are destroying things with sledgehammers…. Where am I? The burning signs seem to be in Japanese, but I don't recognize anything in this scenario… And yet, it's extremely familiar. I'm feeling a disgusting sort of nostalgia. Am I… enjoying this?<em>

_ "U pu pu pu! U pu pu pu pua a ha ha HA HA HA! It's so wonderful! Look, Onee-chan. You can practically see the despair in the faces of these people!" A girl. She couldn't be much older than me, judging from her side profile. She had an oddly familiar blonde color to her hair and a decent sense of fashion. It worked on her, but it's not really my style—what the fuck am I blabbering about? And what the fuck was she blabbering about? And how can she see the expressions of people wearing some creepy bear masks? In an odd way, they kinda reminded me of Hanneko…_

_ And… was she calling me Onee-chan? I think I'd remember having a little sister that was so different from me…_

_ "Oh, you don't agree?" She turned to me as if she expected some sort of answer. I could see that she was holding a stuffed bear toy. Its face looked like the masks on these people._

"_Oh, well. That's too bad," she said, which snapped me out of my reverie… A reverie within a dream? She continued talking. "It's fine if you disagree, Onee-chan. I can help you find a new source of despair!" Before I realized what she could possibly mean by that, I felt sharp pains in… everywhere… Black blades covered in pink dominated my sight, and I fell down. "You'll be gone soon, but don't worry! I will bring about enough despair for the both of us! Good riddance, hideous brute," she said to me as she began to step on my face._

* * *

><p>"AAAAGH!" I woke up in a cold sweat. What <em>was<em> that? It was horrible. I felt like I was watching the world crumble at my feet…

_Chuchu! Chuchu! Chuchu!_ My ElectroID. What a strange tone. It sounded kinda like… mouse squeaks…

I turned it on. I had a message from Nezumi. It asked if I could meet her by Kenzo's room if I was still awake. She sent it about thirty minutes ago… She might not still be there, but it couldn't hurt to check. I got out of bed and put on my daily clothes. This shouldn't take too long.

I made my way around the corner of the hallway. One door had Tobiki's face on it. I stupidly assumed Kenzo's would be next to it. Oddly enough, it was. I approached his door and knocked. I was greeted by Tobiki.

"Wakabayashi-kun? I didn't know you'd be here," I said. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," he said. I didn't believe him for a second.

"Uh… Okay. Is Nezumi here?"

"Oh, right. Sorry," he said. He seemed to be lost in thought for a while. "Come in."

I walked into Kenzo's room. We've only been here for a day, but the walls were already lined with pictures of schematics and designs for buildings.

"Those were designed by Ken-kun," said Tobiki.

"Oh! I didn't know he designed buildings, too," I said. Tobiki nodded.

"Yeah. I didn't realize he had such a talent for architecture before," said Tobiki.

"Oh. Well, I guess you must have influenced him quite a bit," I said. Still, these ideas were just as unusual as Tobiki's, but they had a different style to them…

"Hey, how long have you been there, Rin-chan?" Nezumi's voice. She was sitting on Kenzo's bed. She greeted me jovially for someone who was crying her eyes out earlier…

"Hi," I said. "So, is there a reason why you asked me to come here?"

"Of course," said Nezumi. She handed me Kenzo's ElectroID. "Open it up," she said. I sat on the bed and tried to get it to start up. Once it did, it displayed an icon that was obviously designed to look like Kenzo. The icon name was "Dying Message: Kenzo Tsukuru." Naturally, I wanted to know what it was all about, so I opened it. A hologram appeared in the shape of Kenzo…

"Yo," said the hologram. "I am Kenzo Tsukuru. Please give me your name." It sounds so robotic…

"Rin Nakauchi," I stated. I was unsure of what would happen next.

"Oh, Nakauchi-san," it said. It mimicked Kenzo's deep voice. "I suppose the other two invited you," he said.

"Uh… yeah…" This didn't make sense. This hologram seemed to be acting just like Kenzo… Well, maybe a bit wordier, but it was still too much like him.

"I only have a few more moments to speak. After time is up, I restart from the beginning," it said.

"I… wha?" I turned to Nezumi for an explanation.

"Later, later," she said.

"The reason why I exist is to apologize to Wakabayashi-kun," he said.

He continued. "I want Wakabayashi-kun to know that I'm sorry for my deplorable actions. Trying to kill you was a horrible action, which I deeply regret. I have a few confessions to make. I've always been jealous of Wakabayashi-kun's designing skills and the support he had. I wanted to create ideas that could be translated into real life, but it wasn't a venture for which I was recognized. I was seen as a big, hulking mass of muscle by many, so I had to resort to the next best thing: building structures. I found a false solace in that. Still, Wakabayashi-kun's skills overshadowed mine. My parents would say thinks like 'anyone could build things, but it takes true talent to conceive ideas like these' when seeing what Wakabayashi-kun had come up with.

When this hell offered an opportunity to escape, I tried to take it like a desperate fool. If I could become the sole survivor and escapee, maybe then I could pursue what I loved without Wakabayashi-kun's talents overshadowing mine. In addition, who would suspect the best friend who deeply treasured their friendship to be the killer? Evil thoughts like those dominated my mind until right before my death. I know this is cliché, but it hurt me more than it hurt him. I realized what a monster I had become in that theater, while holding Wakabayashi-kun's hair in my hands. Seeing him on the verge of tears helped snap me out of it. Unfortunately, as I began to change my mind, I was knocked out. I must have been, since that's the last thing I remember."

Wow. Kenzo's pretty fucked up.

"Wakabayashi-kun, are you still there? If so," he continued, "I deeply regret my decision to try to kill you. I hope you don't believe it's only because it led to my downfall. You're like my little brother, and I want you to live a long, happy life. Hopefully our time together will only be a small portion of it."

Tobiki had started crying at this point. "Ken-kun," he said calmly. "I'm sorry for not realizing you felt this way before. I just want you to know that I would have gladly given my life to let you escape. But," he looked at me and Nezumi. "I couldn't give the lives of everyone else here for solely your sake. I'm sorry," he said.

"Stop apologizing! I have a few more requests: live a long and happy life, get taller, fall in love, create the best buildings in existence, and forget about that bastard who tried to take that from you." He appears to have finished.

"I'll never forget my best friend," Tobiki whispered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said. I can't take this sappy shit anymore. "How do we even know he's telling his true intentions?" I highly doubted Kenzo regretted his decision, to be blatantly honest.

"What reason would I have to lie? To preserve a legacy that ended here today? If I'm dead, what''ll I care what people thought of me? I want my true intentions to be clear to Wakabayashi-kun," said the hologram. I still didn't trust that, but Tobiki and Nezumi seemed to be.

"Wait," Nezumi said. "Do you have more time before you sign off?"

"I do," he said.

"Good, I have a question. Can we show you to everyone at Kotaka's meeting tomorrow morning?"

"Uh… I'll leave that up to Wakabayashi-kun to decide," he said.

Now that she mentioned it, I have some questions as well.

"Hey," I said. "Why do you even exist?"

"Uh… I'm an artificial intelligence programmed into Kenzo Tsukuru's ElectroID," he said. Back to the robot voice. "I adopted the look and mannerisms of the owner of the device."

"Artificial intelligence? Well, you didn't do too good a job at adopting Tsukuru-kun's personality," I said.

"Actually… he's startlingly like Ken-kun. Ken-kun didn't talk much around others, but he spoke very much around me and our families," said Tobiki.

"Oh…" Well, now I feel like an ass.

"Please forgive Rin-chan, Tsukuru-kun. Xe's probably still mad from earlier," said Nezumi.

"Xe?" What?

"Yeah," she said. "I still don't know your gender, so just calling you 'xe' is the easiest thing to do now, Rin-chan," said Nezumi. I sighed.

"I have another question," I said. "How did you manage to adopt his personality traits?"

"It takes a minimum of one week for an ElectroID AI to gain an idea of the user's idiosyn –" began the hologram. It soon cut off.

"What? That makes no sense," said Nezumi. She was right. Kenzo couldn't have had the ElectroID for more than a day. Hell, it wasn't even a day. How did it manage to recreate him without the minimum amount of information? I began to wonder these things, but as I did, I realized I was drifting off to sleep…

_Riiiing._ "Excuse me, may I have your attention? It is nyao 7:00, meaning it's morning time! Let's give it our all again today, nya~"

Gah… that must be the morning announcement glasses-guy mentioned. "Rin-chan? Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty! It's almost time for Taka-chan's meeting!" Ugh, did I fall asleep in Kenzo's room? That's going to be uncomfortable. I'm not too fond of the idea of sleeping in a dead man's room… Anyway, after I opened my eyes, I saw Nezumi and Tobiki standing over me. I presume they were attempting to wake me.

"Uh… bleh." I yawned. "Were you guys here the whole time?"

"Nah. My room is across the hall, and Tobiki's is right next door. I just came to see if Rin-chan woke up yet," said Nezumi. "I got some clothes for you!"

I looked to see what was lain out on the bed. There were a few t-shirts, but only two options for bottoms: one pair of pants and a skirt. I'm starting to wonder if this is some kind of test…

"Gee, thanks, Mouse girl," I said. "Buuut… I still need to take a shower and brush my teeth. I don't feel comfortable using someone else's bathroom, so I'll just go to my room," I say. Before she can voice her inevitable complaints about trying to figure out my gender, I run out of the room. It's still pretty funny making her mad about that.

I arrived at my room and began to get ready for the day. I decided to wear a t-shirt and jeans, like I did yesterday. I checked my ElectroID. It was 8:15. I started getting ready at about 8:05, so that's a new personal best.

It looked like I was the last to arrive at the cafeteria. The Super High School Level Politician, Kotaka Ido, had already begun the meeting.

"And, in addition to figuring out how that cat is working, we need to—," said Kotaka, but she was interrupted.

"Hey, who decided you would be the leader behind this, anyway?" A dissenting voice came from Ying.

"Well, considering I've been admitted to this school specifically for my talents in leading groups of people to achieving common goals, I figured I'd probably be the best person to lead the group," said Kotaka. "Ah, Nakauchi has arrived."

"Hey, why not have Nakacchi lead us?" Ying asked this.

"Uh," I said. "I'd rather not be the leader in this, to be honest."

"Yeah, for once, I agree with the hikikomori. It would probably not make a very good leader," said Alice. It?

"Don't call Rin-chan an _it_! It's rude," said Nezumi.

"No, what's rude is slamming doors into people," retorted Alice.

I was prepared to make a remark, but Bunpei beat me to it. "Hey, calm it! Stop being so rude to Rin-chama!"

"Chama?"

"Yeah. It's a mix of 'chan' and 'sama'," explained Bunpei.

"Uh, can you even tell what Rin is? No offense, Rin, but Tougo told me that 'chan' is a kinda feminine suffix," said Jay.

"Uh…" I said. What is going on? Is the issue of my gender really a cause for such debate?

"Anyway, back to the leadership issue. Since Nakacchi doesn't want to lead, I propose we nominate Sugicchi," said Ying. "He's a billion times nicer than you, and he's actually tried to make friends with us instead of boss us around."

"Hey, you shouldn't be so mean to Ido-san," said Yasushi.

"See? He's even being nice to you—"

"Uhm, guys," whispered Ko. "Breakfast is ready…"

"Um, did she cook asagohan for all of us? If so, how do we know we can trust her cooking? She could have poisoned it," said Neko.

"Uh, I can vouch for her, since I went and helped cook a while ago," said Ying.

"But isn't that just vouching for yourself?" Glasses guy this time.

"I don't think Ko-chan would try to poison us," said Tamaki.

"I agree," said Yasushi. "Without trust, we'll eventually fall to ruin."

"We may fall to ruin _with _trust," said a girl with coke-bottle glasses and braided black twintails. Who was she? "Don't you remember what just happened last night with Tan Blonde and Short Friend?"

"Another one who doesn't know anyone's name," said Glasses guy. After this comment, the room pretty much erupted in arguments everywhere. Well, Tobiki and Ko didn't participate. Both just looked sad.

"ENOOOOOOOOUGH!" Ko yelled. She managed to get everyone's attention with that one.

"Uh…" she said. "If you guys are worried about breakfast, then I'll go first and get a bit of everything to try out to prove that it's not poisoned. Please come get something to eat, everyone…" Her voice just got lower and lower the more she spoke. That yell probably took a lot out of her.

We all followed Ko into the kitchen. I felt kinda sorry for her. She only wants to be comfortable around these people, but quite a few of them turned on her. Must be taxing.

She went to the cabinet first to pick up her plate. She picked the second one down.

"Hey," said Tobiki. "Why didn't you take the plate on top?"

"Oh, it's a habit," whispered Ko. After this, we each fixed our own food and went back to the cafeteria. Kotaka continued to speak, but Hanneko arrived.

"Enjoying your breakfast, you bastards?"

"AAAGH! HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!" He managed to startle coke-bottle glasses girl. Her voice began to sound kinda foreign after that…

"That's not important. I just came to remind you that you all have a play to put on! It's Tuesday, and you're premiering the play on Friday," he said. "I hope you all can get it done on time~" With that, he left. I had completely forgotten about that fucking play.

Breakfast was uneventful beyond that point. Tobiki let Nezumi play Kenzo's dying message, and the crowd had mixed reactions. A depressing quiet fell on the crowd at that point. It wasn't until we arrived at the theater that anyone decided to start any conversation. I mainly walked around visiting the different groups. This time was meant to double as free time, so we were free to do what we wanted. Most of them chose to do stuff for the play. I spoke to Ko and Tamaki when visiting the costume department (while Alice ignored me), and I spoke to Ying after Glasses guy pulled me over to "Stop being dead weight" and help them. My goofing off with Ying pissed him off enough to force me to leave and do something else.

I walked around the booth at the top of the theater, too. Hehe, I managed to waste my entire day trying to make some friends (I think) before getting there. I wound up walking in on Kotaka and Yasushi.

"Anyway, I didn't need you to try to stick up for me," said Kotaka.

"Well, sorry, it's kinda in my nature. While I can't say that I agree with your style of leadership, I don't like seeing people try to tear each other down like that," countered Yasushi.

"I don't need your help, anyway!"

"How could you possibly not need help? Even the best politicians needed help."

"Simple: I'm better than they are."

"Or there's less you actually need to be responsible for."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all, Ido-san."

"Anyway, quit trying to take jabs at me! All you've done is 'make friends,' and look what a whole hell of a lot of good having friendships has done."

"Are you saying that Tsukuru-san's murder came about because some of us were trying to be nice?"

"I'm saying that we don't need friendship here. We need leadership."

"Haha! You're adorable when you try to sound serious."

I couldn't tell if Kotaka was blushing or really mad. "You condescending—" she began, but then she noticed that I was there.

"Na-Na-Na… How long have you been there?!" Kotaka looked surprised and embarrassed.

"Hey, Nakauchi-san! I don't think I've had the chance to talk to you before," said Yasushi. He was significantly less embarrassed than Kotaka.

"Uh… Yeah, hi," I said.

"Nakauchi! You can help resolve this," said Kotaka.

"Hm… you mean you want Nakauchi-san to exercise diplomacy, Ido-san?" Yasushi seemed to be having fun messing with Kotaka.

"Shut up," replied Kotaka.

"Uh… Anyway, I'm not sure how I'd be of any help," I said.

"Nonsense! A third party opinion may be just what we need," said Yasushi. "So, the issue here is with how Ido-san leads. While I have confidence in her leadership skills, she's way too aggressive and doesn't listen much to the opinions of others."

"Hey, are you trying to kiss up or piss me off?"

"Anyway, I'm trying to see if I can convince her that we need to be able to effectively communicate with our peers in order to combat this problem. Diplomacy would be our best option here."

"Uh…" I began. "I guess maybe Sugihara-kun has a point here. A politician is a leader, but that doesn't mean you need to take on every burden, Ido-san. Maybe having two leaders would be better, and would probably stop this quarreling," I said. I tried to sound serious, but that speech seems more cheesy than anything now that I look back on it.

"But I don't _need_ anyone else to lead with me," said Kotaka. "I've helped resolve issues on a national scale before, so I'm pretty sure I can do this on my own."

"Then…" This girl is being impossible… "How about having someone lead under you?"

"Yeah, like me! I could be your second in command," said Yasushi.

"Grrr… Fine. I guess you do have a point, Nakauchi," said Kotaka. She turned to Yasushi. "Just remember, Sugihara, you are _under_ me, not the same level as me."

"I'm fine with that as long as progress can be made," said Yasushi. "Now, first order of business: you need to be nicer to people."

Kotaka then punched Yasushi in the shoulder, and he staggered over slightly. "I'm not one to be bossed around. Remember that you're under me," she said. Um… What? He just regained his balance and laughed.

"Haha! It's a good thing we have such a strong leader," said Yasushi. I didn't realize they'd become so close. Either that, or Yasushi is a masochist... "You know what you should do," he continued.

"Hmph. It's not good to annoy your leader," she said as she took out her ElectroID. "Nakauchi," she began. "Are you a boy or girl?"

"Not telling. Sorry, but I can't play favorites here," I said.

"Fine," she said. "You can go now."

I immediately took the invitation. She was rude, but it doesn't seem like she was trying to be mean. Unlike Alice, anyway. I wandered back to the dorms. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten. We had a little over three hours until nighttime. I was about to turn the corner when I accidentally ran into someone (again).

"Ah! Rin-chan!" It didn't take long to guess who it was. "Did you hear about the slumber party?"

"What? What slumber party?"

"Taka-chan invited all the girls to a slumber party," she said. "Did you get invited?"

"Yeah, no," I said. "I declined telling her what I was as she was inviting people, I assume."

"Boo! Rin-chan, why are you so mean?!"

"Anyway, have fun, Mouse girl," I said as I walked away. I ignored her protests and went back to my room. There was still time until Hanneko's nighttime announcement, but I was really tired. I got in bed and hoped that I wouldn't have another one of those nightmares.


	5. Chapter Two: Nothing to Do with Macbeth

**Author's Note: Hi, readers! I'm sorry, but I was not able to upload a chapter last week since I was caught in a bad situation with snow and became stuck in traffic for hours. Oh, well, c'est la vie. Anyway, to make up for it, here is the second of two chapters I decided to upload today! Next week might just consist of free time events, but they definitely won't be a waste of time if you're planning to investigate…**

** Also, I probably should have written this earlier, but this story will contain spoilers from both games. I don't think any major spoilers have been written so far (except for the dream sequence), but I'll try not to make them so obvious in the future (well, until the last few chapters. If you haven't finished the first game or anime, avoid those like the plague when they come out). Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and I hope you enjoy the future chapters~**

**PS: I'm still not entirely sure what Rin is myself, but I've got an idea of how I want the issue to turn out… hehehe :3 Please leave a review if you think there's something I could be doing better!**

* * *

><p>There's no such thing as perfect writing, just as there's no such thing as perfect despair.<p>

-Haruki Murakami

_Knock. Knock. Knock._ Ugh. I woke up to the sound of knocking at my door. Before I could get up to answer it, my ElectroID went off. _Tienes un mensaje. Tu as d'un message. Messeeji wo motte iru. You have a message._ The tone went off in a few more languages before I stopped it. I soon realized it was a waste of time as the person who sent the message was standing outside my door. I opened the door and in walked Glasses.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting your slumber," he said in a mocking tone, as if he were completely aware of the fact that he was interrupting my sleep.

"Whatever. Whaddaya want, Glasses?"

"Don't call me that." He seemed to be slightly irritated at that. "Here," he said as he threw a binder at me. In one of the clear sheaths was a piece of paper with the words "Family Values" printed on it.

"Since I know you're going to ask a question with a very obvious answer, I'll just tell you now. It's the finished copy of the play. You're writing the program, so take a look at the dramatis personae and keep those names in mind," he said. What, is this guy also the Super High School Level Brainwave Interpreter? But I had more questions than that.

"Uh, yeah, thanks and all, but why don't you show this to the actors first?"

"Ugh. Most of the main actors are girls, and they're all at that sleepover. They're not letting any guys into any areas they've occupied, and they have the cafeteria, the bathhouse, and Ido's room. Her room is next to mine, and I haven't had a break from their incessant laughing since they left the bathhouse," he explained.

"This school has a bathhouse?"

"That's beside the point. But you would know about it if you didn't spend all your time locked in your room."

"Anyway, why not just knock and say that you have the script to show them?"

"Well… that is, I…" he started stammering and blushing. "I… didn't want to interrupt them…"

"Uh… What? They've all left the bathhouse, so they're probably in their pajamas now. It shouldn't be a problem, and this assignment is kinda important."

"Yeah, but, well… they're in Ido's room… And… I… Too intimate a setting… A girl's room… it's way too private, and I didn't want to intrude on their privacy."

Oh? This is going to be fun. "But Glasses, you've had no problem coming in my room while it's just us two…"

"Yeah, but you're not… Wait…" He began to blush again. "AAARGH! Stop messing with my head! Give me that," he snapped as he took the script back. "I'm going to find the set crew members." He then left quickly. Didn't take long to mess with him. I crawled back into bed with the hopes that I wouldn't be interrupted again.

* * *

><p>"—Let's give it our all again today!"<p>

Huh? It's morning again. I got out of bed and remembered that Kotaka's having another meeting around 8. Well, these announcements go off at 7, so I've got some time. I think I'll get a head start on breakfast.

I walked to the cafeteria. Some people were already there eating and discussing the play. I wasn't particularly interested, so I just went to the kitchen. Ko was in there cooking. Oddly enough, Ying and Kotaka were also there laughing together and standing arm in arm. Weren't those two bitter enemies yesterday?

"Icchi! Yesterday was so fun! Thanks for inviting me~" said Ying. Icchi?

"Yay~ I'm glad you had fun, Yin-cchi!" Is… is that really Kotaka? Yin-cchi? She's adopted Ying's nicknaming style?!

"Uh… Yamamoto-san…" I trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"Did something happen at that sleepover yesterday?"

"Yeah… I'm not sure what, though…"

"It's because now we understand each other!" Ying explained this to us.

"Yeah. Ying arrived to the bathhouse first, so we had time to talk before everyone got here. I didn't want to at first, but somehow we wound up becoming friends," explained Kotaka.

"Uh… Okay…" I'm confused. This could be why I don't have many friends.

"Hey do you remember when—"

"Yes! Haha! That was so funny! Also when—"

"I _know_!"

I'm… more confused than I've ever been at this point. Oh, well. I got my food from Ko and left. I finished eating around the time Kotaka started the meeting.

"Alright," she said. "First, Karacchi made a discovery yesterday."

"Yes!" Nezumi stood up as if she were giving a presentation. She had some papers in her hands. "One of the doors that was locked previously has now been opened. It's to a hallway, and that hallway leads to a whole new building! It was awesome! It had a whole bunch of gyms and fields and courts and tracks and pools! It was like a huge athletic building!"

"Ah! Really! Nezumi-chan, you've visited Heaven and didn't take me with you?!" Bunpei didn't seem to get how that could be misinterpreted.

"Oh, yeah, Bun-kun is the athletics expert! I'm sorry, I meant to tell you first, but the sleepover news sidetracked me," said Nezumi.

"Aww. Two things I missed out on last night," said Bunpei.

"He tried to sneak into the bathhouse, in case you were wondering," said Glasses as he took his seat next to me. "Of course, I didn't participate in such perversion."

"Yeah, right," I said.

"Tougo-kun's not lying, actually," whispered Bunpei. "I tried to convince him to come with me, but he refused. Same with Tobiki-kun and Yasushi-kun. I was going to ask you, but it looked like you were asleep, and I didn't want to disturb you."

"Me? Are you sure that would have been a good idea? I mean, just because I wasn't there doesn't mean it's not possible that I'm a female," I said.

"Oh, no you don't," said Glasses. "Furuda, from now on, don't talk about genders around Nakauchi. It'll only confuse you."

"Ahem," said Kotaka. "If the three stooges over there are done discussing their sins, I'd like to continue. Furuda's escapades reminded me of another issue we need to discuss. To prevent more murders, I propose we each pick a partner and keep an eye out for them."

"So, we have to constantly be looking out for our partners?" Jay asked this.

"Yes, Jay-cchi! But the Elec—"

"I call being Tamaki-chan's partner!"Alice shouted this, which irked Kotaka.

"Be quiet and listen," said Ying.

"Huh? Since when are you so eager to listen to Ido? I thought you hated her," said Alice.

"Alice-san, haven't you noticed how much nicer they've been to each other since the sleepover started?" Tamaki asked th—Wait, how would Tamaki know that?! He… probably hasn't told anyone else…

Tobiki looked confused. "Wait, why was Yanaihara-kun—"

"A-NY-WAY," shouted Kotaka. "Can we please get back to the discussion? Jay-cchi, to answer your question, you will. But there's a setting on the ElectroIDs that allows you to see the locations of all the students in the school at all times and at any time. You guys will check in on each other periodically, and I think this may help prevent more murders from occurring," said Kotaka. She took command, but she seemed less hostile somehow. I guess Yasushi's ideas got through to her.

"That's a great idea! As should be expected from our wonderful leader," said Ying.

"I agree," said Yasushi. Okay, do these two freaking worship Kotaka or something? She must be that good…

"Alright! Pick your partners, and make sure you keep up with them," said Kotaka. Everyone started pairing off with each other. Agh, I always hated this kind of thing in school. I always wound up with ano—

"Rin-chan!"

"Rin-tan!"

"Naka— huh?" Three simultaneous calls of my name? Well, that'd probably be two and a half, but… wha?

It turns out the three voices were from Nezumi, Glasses, and… Neko? I could kinda understand Nezumi _maybe_, but Glasses and Neko? That's unusual.

"Uh…"

"Kotaka-tan! We seem to have an issue~" called Neko.

"Oh? What is it, Kawai?"

"It's Kawa_ii_. The last syllable in my name is prolonged. Anyway, it looks like three of us want to be Rin-tan's partner," she said. Dear God, I hope I'm not partnered with her.

"Uh… Actually, that'd be two," said Glasses as he walked off.

"Aww. Megane-kun left," said Neko. "Oh, well."

"Uh… You guys… Actually, now that I think about it, letting you guys pick was probably not a good idea… Listen up!" Kotaka began to address the rest of the group. "I've decided to change this up a bit. Instead, you guys will pick randomly. Choosing friends could lead to more problems."

Everyone groaned collectively. "Sugihara, write seven of our names on separate small pieces of paper, and flip them over. Let the other seven pick one," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," he said as he proceeded to write seven of our names down.

"Seeing as that is all we have to discuss currently, you guys are dismissed to do whatever you please as long as it does not include harming anyone here," said Kotaka. I went back to the kitchen because, well, I got hungry again. Ko was there. Wait, did she even leave the kitchen at all?

"Uh—Hi, Yamamoto-san," I said. I accidentally startled her.

"H-H-Hi! Sorry, but I wasn't expecting you! But, now that you're here, I have something to tell you," she said. Her voice was a whisper, but it seemed a bit louder now.

"Yeah?"

"Ying and I can help in preparations of concessions for the play!"

"Uh… That's interesting and all, but why are you telling me this?"

"That is… Politician-san asked me to help you with the booth."

"Booth? Don't tell me, I'm running concessions."

"Uh. Yeah… I'm sorry!" She then ran off. Oops. Didn't mean to come across as mad. Oh, well, I can't help it now. I left with some fruits, and wandered around the school for a while. I saw the bathhouse that Glasses mentioned. My ElectroID then went off. _Score! Goal! Match point! Touchdown! Homerun!_ I checked to see what it said, since I kinda guessed that it was Bunpei. He asked me to meet him in the props room with him, Tobiki, and Nezumi. Eh. I trusted these three, so I went without questioning it. Those three were there, just as Bunpei said.

"Yo, Rin-chama!"

"Hi, Rin-chan!"

"Nakauchi-san, hello!"

All of them greeted me, but Tobiki seemed happiest for some reason. I'm glad he's recovering well from the first trial. I walked around the props room with them.

"Hey, Rin-chama! Come check out this room!" Bunpei tried to get my attention as he showed me a door that was hidden by several large props. "It's a secret prop closet! It's got dangerous-looking things in it, but I've actually played with them all. They're all harmless," he said as he picked up a knife lying on the ground.

"See?" He then plunged the knife into his stomach and let out a small yell.

"Hahaha! Did I surprise you? Don't worry, all of the blades in here are soft-edged and retractable."

"You… have a very creepy sense of humor," I said. I talked more with Bunpei and the others about the play. He explained that the knives were actually props that they needed for this specific play. They made me build sets with them, but I actually had fun, so I'm not complaining. The rest of my free time for the day was pretty uneventful. Even so, I ended it feeling more confident that this play would be not as bad as I originally expected.

* * *

><p>It's now Friday. Everyone around here has been freaking out about this play premiere. They've even made me dress in an all-black ensemble. I'm just in the hallway behind the theater, so I'm not sure why I have to dress like the set crew.<p>

"Alright, everyone, get in your places," yelled Kotaka. "Nakacchi, you're in the hallway behind the theater. Do your best," she told me.

"Okay," I said. I walked through to the concessions booth. When I lifted the door, I encountered a huge line of people.

God. Damn. It. The play starts in fifteen minutes! There's no way I can serve all these people in that time! Oh, well, I had to try. Here we go!

* * *

><p>I survived. I'm pretty sure my thought process completely shut down in that time and I became like some sort of robot. Oh, well, I've got two customers left and three minutes to showtime.<p>

"Hello! What would you two lovely ladies like to order?" Yasushi asked me to greet all the customers like this, and I found it close to impossible to say no. He asked so nicely, I knew I'd feel like a bad guy if I refused.

"Two popcorns, please," they said. Wait… These are two live humans! Gah, why didn't I think of this earlier?!

"Alright. But I have something to tell you," I said. "Lean in closer." They complied.

"Listen up. We've been trapped in this school. We can't find an entrance or an exit anywhere, and we're being forced to kill each other," I explained.

"That's interesting!" One of the girls exclaimed this.

"Is our popcorn ready?" The other girl.

What was with these two?! Maybe they don't believe me…

"Wait," I said. "Haven't you noticed that there are comparatively fewer students at this school? Or that none of us are in any sort of uniform?"

"Yeah, yeah, what about our popcorn?"

"What? Ugh, fine," I said dejectedly. I turned around to get it, but I saw Hanneko there instead.

"ACK! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to warn you about not violating any rules."

"… Rules?"

"You still haven't read the rulebook, have you? Oh, well. I'll let you off with a warning this time, since it's not that big an issue, but read the rulebook! If you break another rule, I won't be so merciful!" Hanneko then leapt onto the counter and off into the hallway. Those two girls were gone, too. But how? I didn't hear any footsteps from them or anything. They didn't even get their popcorn… Anyway, something was seriously wrong with those two. What kind of people were they? They didn't notice anything off here? Come to think of it, how did all of these people even get in the school? The others searched, but they haven't found a single exit…

These thoughts bothered me for a while. Thirty minutes, in fact. It's getting closer to intermission time. Better start making popcorn again.

"AAAAAGH!" Oh! Such a loud scream! It caused chills to run down my spine. The voice sounded like it belonged to Irina, but that was too convincing a scream for me to just ignore. I ran backstage, and yet another horrible sight greeted me. Irina was crying and holding a bloodied knife in her hands, and Tamaki Yanaihara, the Super High School Level Costume Designer, was bleeding out center stage…


	6. Chapter Two: Free Time Events

The only real laughter comes from despair.

-Groucho Marx

**Neko-chan (after the partner assignments)**

"Aww. Neko-chan was really looking forward to being Rin-tan's partner," said Neko after Kotaka decided to have Yasushi help us pick our partners. Wait… Something's odd…

"YOU?! How did you get out of the courtroom?!" God, how dense can I get? It took me so long to realize that she wasn't on the elevator back to the gym, but she was here yesterday morning and this morning…

"Nya, Neko-chan just followed Hanneko out of the courtroom. Please don't yell in such a kowai voice, Rin-tan," she said. For some reason, that seemed suspicious to me. Really, there was nothing suspicious about it, but… I don't know. Maybe being in this place is making me paranoid.

"Okay, that makes sense… Sorry for yelling," I said. She got a stupid grin on her face.

"Aww, it sounds like Rin-tan's being a tsundere," she said. I take back that apology. As I was about to turn away, she tugged on my shirt.

"Ne, Rin-tan, can I talk to you about something?" Neko's tone changed. She seemed more serious, somehow.

"Sure," I said.

"Well… I just want to say that I can kinda empathize with you," she said. "I used to be made fun of for not having any 'real talents,' too, and it really hurt." I'm not sure what she's trying to achieve with this, but I fell like this will only end in me being pissed off.

She continued speaking. "Kids would make fun of me for only seeming to know about the latest anime or the latest rising idol or the latest new game, and they'd call me airheaded and lame. I never told them about myself, so they all thought of me as boring."

"Wow. That sucks," I said uninterestedly. She didn't pay much attention to my tone.

"It did suck," she said. "Then I went to a new school, and it only got worse. Especially since it seemed like everyone there had some sort of 'real' talent. For a long time, I didn't have any friends at school. But then I realized there was someone there like me! Well, I say she was like me, but she was actually much smarter and cooler. We became best friends and always stood together against those who thought of us as 'lame'! Looking back, those were really fun times!" She's started smiling. I didn't want to admit it, but seeing her smile made me feel somewhat happy for her.

"Well, I'm glad your story had a happy ending," I said. She just looked at me.

"Actually… I'm not sure it's really like that," she said sadly. "Ever since I got accepted into New Hope's Peak, she didn't talk to me. It's been years since we last spoke. To be honest, I think she's forgotten all about me," she said. Wow. That's actually kinda sad. I mean, I never had any consistent friends, but at least there were points when I had more than just one... Not necessarily at once, but you get the idea. I'm still confused about something, though…

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry it ended like that. But why are you telling me this…?"

"Nani? That's a good question," she said. She seemed to seriously consider her next answer.

"Neko-chan has no idea!" How could she have an answer like that sound so excited? In fact, it sounded almost happy…

"Wow. You really are a weirdo," I said.

"Hm… Maybe I'm telling Rin-tan so that Rin-tan will consider being my friend!" I… can't tell if I should take this girl seriously…

"Uh… okay…" I said hesitantly. I immediately regretted it.

"Yay! Arigatou, Rin-tan! Actually, I think I figured out why I told you," she said. "Truth is, you remind me a lot of her!"

"Oh. Uh… Thanks… I think…" God damn it.

"Kawai! Come over here and pick a name," said Kotaka commandingly.

"Alright, Kotaka-tan! And it's Kawaii!" She then left. Thank goodness. I'm not sure how, but being around her exhausted me. I think I'll go to the kitchen and get some more food…

**Nezumi (when looking around in the Recreational Building)**

I realized one day that I hadn't visited the second building of the school yet. While passing by plenty of other rooms that I still have yet to see, I realized that Tougo (_that's_ his name!) was kinda right. I really don't get out much. But, really, in such a situation, that is to be understood. I really don't want to chance getting caught in a bad place at a bad time.

I walked through the tunnel hallway (which, for some reason, was lit with red lights) on the north-facing side of the building. When I walked through the other door, I was greeted with a brightly lit basketball court. It was similar to the basketball court in the basic gym of the main building, but it was so much bigger and it looked much more professional. The bleachers had seats for many more people as well. One end even had a rock wall. It seemed like an odd place for a rock wall considering this place probably held many sporting events at some point, but whatevs.

"Impressive, isn't it?" I heard a familiar voice call to me from the bleachers. I turned to see Nezumi walking towards me.

"Yeah, very," I yelled back. "I can't believe this is actually part of the school. I feel like I'm in a stadium for a professional team."

"Well, knowing that it was a Hope's Peak team, they probably were professional caliber," she said as she came closer to me.

"Ah! That reminds me, I need to talk to Glasses about those conspiracy things he's heard," I said.

"Huh? Who's glasses?"

"Really? You've probably gone around and talked to everyone here. Plus, it's the only person stuck in this situation that wears glasses," I explained.

"Uh, Rin-chan, there are actually two people here that wear glasses," said Nezumi. Two? Now that she mentions it, that girl with the black pigtails also wears glasses… But who could she be? Nezumi? Nah, both of them were in the cafeteria this morning. Alice in a black wig? No, she was probably there, too… Oh, yeah, she had on a long burgundy wig earlier…

"Don't tell me, Irina also wears glasses?"

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner," she said jokingly. Wow. That girl didn't remind me at all of that beautiful model that I met on the first day here. Actually, that girl did have an accent at one point as well…

"If you ask her, it's because she says she may as well have everyone get used to her normal look," said Nezumi.

"Oh," I said. "Well, her normal look is really different from what I remember."

"Hehe, I'll be sure to tell her that," she said.

"So," I began, "you seem to be really good at making friends with these guys."

"Thanks! Some of my old friends used to tell me that I was very charismatic."

"Huh. I guess they're right. May I ask what your old friends were like?"

"Sure thing! Uh… they were all males that were slightly older than me."

Huh? She didn't seem like the type to have three male best friends. Especially not older ones.

She continued speaking. "The first of the guys that I met was a handsome blonde guy, hehe. His family and my family were actually very close for a long time, and we wound up working together a lot on projects. He was really good at physics and math and computer stuff, which I never really got. The second one was a brunet with glasses, and he actually used to hate girls for some reason, but we somehow ended up becoming friends. I think he used to attend New Hope's Peak as the Super High School Level Biologist when I was in middle school. The last guy I met was a cute guy with seafoam green hair. He was really good at things like athletics and martial arts, so I think Bun-kun and Nobu-kun would have liked to hang out with him. Oh, I seemed to have been rambling on about my friends a lot," she said.

"Hehe, nah, it's fine," I said. "Sounds like you really enjoyed them as your friends."

"Yeah, I did," she said. "But I'm glad I have the opportunity to make female friends here. Even when I wasn't with them, I still mostly hung out with guys. They always teased me about it, though," she said. She began to blush a bit.

"Ah, well, it still sounds like you have at least three good, lasting friendships," I said. "I'm kinda jealous."

"Don't be! Most of the people here are willing to be your friends, and I'm sure we'll all be really close friends still when we get out of here," she said. "Just try talking to everyone."

"Bleh, fine," I said. She seems really optimistic about us getting out of here alive. For her sake and everyone else's, I hoped we would, too.

As I turned to leave, she called back to me. "Actually, Rin-chan," she said. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Huh? Sure, I guess," I said.

"There is one person here that makes me fell kinda uneasy…"

"Really? Who?"

She looked around, then whispered in my ear. "Neko-chan, the blonde girl," she said. "I wound up having to be her partner…"

While she and I do share sentiments about her, I couldn't help but laugh. "Haha! Why, is it because of all of the cat themes about her?"

"N-N-No! And don't be so loud, we might be overheard," she stammered.

"Hehe, okay," I said. It was still pretty silly. Oh, well, I guess it's only natural for mice to feel uneasy around cats.

**Ying (while Tougo is writing the script)**

"Hey, Nakacchi! Wanna help me convince Hanacchi to make the story _interesting_?"

Ying called out to me as I walked around and visited the people working on stuff for the play. I decided to hang out with her for a while.

"So, what's Glasses trying to make the play about?"

"I'm not quite sure. He just said it was something serious and angsty," said Ying. "I'm not sure why there can't be a serious and angsty story in outer space, but whatever. Really, this just means less work for me~"

"That's how I'd see it," I said. "So, can I ask you a couple of things?"

"If it's about my measurements or my relationship status, sorry, but I'm not allowed to answer those! Most other stuff is fair game."

"Why would I want… Anyway, that's besides the point. You said you had a cellphone earlier, right?"

She took it out of her pocket and showed it to me. "Yep, but I can't call or text anyone if that's what you're wondering. There aren't any working signals around any part of the school, so it's pretty much just good for playing some games," she said as she handed it to me.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why I got it. I don't have any relatives around here, so talking to anyone in China would just rack up the phone bills," she said. "But whatever! I'm fine with conforming to general societal ideas of teenagers! Having cool phones is one idea!"

Uh… I didn't really see it that way, but whatever floats her goat, I guess.

"But still…" I said. "If there's no signal, then how are we able to use our ElectroIDs to communicate?"

"That has a very simple answer, nya," said Hanneko. He somehow managed to sneak in between me and Ying.

"Hey! No one asked you," I said angrily.

"Aww. It seems like you all hate me, nya. First it was Miss Caraway, then I found out that Karafuto was terrified of me, and now you don't like to see me, nya?"

"Wha—no one likes seeing you! You're a constant reminder of this hellish situation!"

"Anyaway, the school has its own private network. No outside devices can access it at all. In fact, it shouldn't even register on her phone," said Hanneko.

"He's right! Wow, that's interesting! How does that—"

Before Ying could finish a third ridiculous statement, Hanneko left without a trace. Again.

"Oh, well. Hey, Hanacchi," said Ying. "How's that script coming?"

Glasses looked up at her with an annoyed expression. "It's going well, no thanks to you goofballs," said Glasses.

"What's it even about?" I asked this.

"Okay, call me nuts, but it's meant to be a psychological story about love and loss as well as a look into the mind of an insane person," he said proudly. "I can only hope I've done well enough. I may need to do more research on the subject."

" 'That doesn't answer my question' sounds like something Nakacchi would say!" Wow. I must be way too predictable, since that was exactly what I was going to say.

"Feh. Fine. It's about a girl that's constantly bullied by her family until, one day, she loses sanity and murders them all," he said calmly.

"That—THAT'S WAY TOO FUCKING VIOLENT!" It was a bit shocking. Still, I kinda wanted to see if he could pull off such a daring story. I looked over at Ying to see what she thought, but she went completely silent. She just stared downward in shock…. Oh, yeah! Ying did have a traumatic experience like that… She wound up being the only surviving member of her family on the camping trip that made her so well-known…

"Ying…?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine!" She gave a response as energetic as before. She seems fine with it, so I guess the story isn't too problematic for her…

"I'm… going to go to the library…" she got up and left.

"Oh, make sure to find a book on mentality," said Glasses. He must not know about her story at all…

Eh. After Ying left, I decided to leave as well. Well, I was told to by Glasses after he realized I was just being "useless," but I was planning to leave anyway. Maybe I'll go find Yasushi or Kotaka…

**Bunpei (one day when he is in the Recreational Building)**

"He shoots aaaaaaaaand… SCOOOOORES!" I walked in on Bunpei playing basketball one day. He somehow managed to make a shot from almost across the entire court.

"Hey, Rin-chama!" He noticed me and greeted me in his normal fashion. I kinda wondered about that honorific, though.

"Hey, Furuda-kun," I said. "Since I'm here, can I ask you something?"

"Sure! Anything as long as it doesn't involve book stuff," he said.

"Okay. Why do you call me 'Rin-chama'?"

"Why not? Rin's your name, and I told ya earlier that 'chama' is just me mixing 'chan' and 'sama'." He proceeded to shoot another three-point shot. Nothing but net.

"Yeah, I figured as much. But why use either of those suffixes?"

He stopped. "Well, Nezumi-chan kinda got me stuck on calling you Rin-chan before, but after the trial I changed it to Rin-chama."

"Why the trial?"

"Oh. I added that part to show that I respect you! After all, you acknowledged my suggestion about the stars in addition to doing other cool stuff!"

"Cool stuff?"

"Yeah! Like solving the mystery behind Kenzo-kun's murder! You totally saved all our asses there," he said. "Plus, you stood up to Hanneko. That's pretty much the ballsiest thing I've ever seen anyone do!"

"Oh… Well, thanks…" That was actually kinda embarrassing. Unfortunately, he noticed.

"Rin-chama, are you blushing?" He looked at me. "Ha ha ha! I didn't realize you were that kinda guy, Rin-chama!"

"W-what kind? How are you so certain I'm a guy at all? And I'M NOT BLUSHING," I said. Gah! What is this feeling!?

"Oh? Oh, right, Tougo-kun said you don't like to talk about genders, so forget I said anything," he said as he winked at me. I'm pretty sure that's not what Tougo meant, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to take this…

"So, ya know who ya got partnered up with?" Good. He's changing the subject.

"Nah, not yet."

"Oh. Well, I got partnered up with that cute Chinese girl! You could probably ask Yasu-kun who you're watching," said Bunpei. He seems to be a flirty type of guy. Huh. Maybe I'll have to ask him at some point how to do that…

"Yasu-kun and the others are checking out the pool upstairs, if you're wondering," he said. I took that as him wanting a bit more private time and said bye to him.

**Ko (one morning while Ko is making breakfast)**

"—Let's give it our all again today!"

Huh? Why do I keep waking up at this point in the announcement? And why do I feel so hungry? Well, whatever the reason, I decided to just go straight to the kitchen to get some food. I'll shower and brush my teeth after I've eaten.

I walked quickly to the cafeteria in my pajamas, somewhat hoping that I wouldn't get caught. I found my way to the kitchen and somehow managed to knock over some pots and pans.

"KYAAAA!" I heard a startled scream as I began to pick them up. I turned to see Ko standing there.

"Oh, it's just you, Hikikomori-san," she said. She seemed to become more relieved.

"Hey, Yamamoto-san," I said. "I—didn't realize you'd be here." I also didn't realize how silly I looked in my boxer shorts and t-shirt combo. Note to self: at least put on pants before leaving the room. I stood behind a cart to hide.

"Ah. Sorry for overreacting," she said. "And Politician-san's placed me and Ying on breakfast duty, so I'm always here early to make sure everything's on time," she said. I noticed that her voice has become a bit louder again.

"Oh, I see. Well, you've been doing a good job of making breakfast for us! I appreciate it very much," I said. Ko smiled brightly.

"Thank you very much," she said gratefully. "So… did you want to get something then go back to your room?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I still need to get ready for the morning meeting," I said. She picked up a plate from the cabinet.

"Alright! This stuff should be mostly ready, so I'll just fix some for you and let you go," she said.

"Oh, wow. Thanks," I said. "So, how did you end up on breakfast duty anyway?"

"Ah. Well, Politician-san says it's for the sake of consistency. She doesn't want too many different people working on breakfast since there's a lot that could go wrong, and she says she trusts me a lot. For the sake of keeping that trust, I come here and try to make a good meal for everybody!" She seems excited to have such a task. I couldn't help but feel happy for her when she puts it that way.

"That's good," I said.

"Unfortunately, I'm not really very good at making food look appealing," she said.

"Huh? The Super High School Level Makeup Artist has found something that she can't make look good? For shame," I said teasingly. She giggled.

"Hey, makeup isn't all about making people look good. The real effort goes into trying to make someone look bad in a good way," she said. "For example, say you want to create a demon monster. You can _not _just get some plastic horns and red face paint and expect a good outcome. No. You'll need to come up with designs, do some sculpting, painting, mixing…"

I somehow wound up zoning out while Ko was talking….

"Oh? I'm sorrryyyyyy," she whispered.

"Huh? What for?"

"I… I guess my makeup talk bored you…" Aww. Now I feel bad.

"No, no, it's fine, Yamamoto-san. I was just really admiring how passionate you guys are about what you all do," I said. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh. Thank goodness~" she smiled again. Just as I was about to ask another question, Ying Yanmei arrived.

"Yo, Yamacchi! How's it—" Ying began, and then she noticed me.

"… Nakacchi… Where are your pants?" Ying looked at me suspiciously, and I had become aware of the fact that I was here for about half an hour.

"Yeah… I'll just take my food and go," I said. Out of embarrassment, I tried not to look back towards the two girls.


	7. Chapter Two: Investigation and Trial

"Hello, you hapless bastards! One of your friends has been murdered by one of you jerks! Check your ElectroIDs in a couple of minutes. You will have a brief period of time for investigation. Good luck~!"

Hannneko's Corpse Discovery Announcement. Tamaki's bleeding has stopped, and he's lying on the stage in a pool of his own blood. I scream, but my voice isn't the only one. Alice is running over to Tamaki's side, and Tougo's over by Irina's. The audience is sitting in their seats, and I can barely make out some faces in the dark. They all look calm…

Wait. This audience is completely calm. Certainly they don't think this is part of the play.

I feel myself becoming angry. What the hell is wrong with these people?! They all just watched a child die, and they're sitting as if they're watching a performance!

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I'm yelling at the audience now. "A KID JUST FUCKING _DIED_! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?" They turn to look at me silently, then look back at the stage.

Suddenly, Hanneko jumps on the stage from the orchestra pit. "Nya ha ha!" He laughs his stupid laugh and flips a switch on a remote control that he shouldn't even be able to hold considering he has no fucking thumbs. The lights in the theater come on, and the audience completely disappears. Several confused phrases come from the other students.

"Nya ha ha! Beautiful! The despairing look on your faces is just _beautiful!_" He's spouting more nonsense than usual.

"What? WHAT?!" Jay starts yelling and looking more frantic than she did when working on the play. "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"

"Hahahahahaha! As _if_ I'd let actual people in this school! Haven't you figured out by now that there's no way in and only one way out? And that one way is _death_! Much like your poor faggot friend here—"

At this comment, Alice runs toward Hanneko and kicks him into the orchestra pit.

"Don't. You. _Dare_. Insult. Tamaki," said Alice. Of course, Hanneko jumps back up.

"I'm going to let you off with a warning, since I'm not ready to have you die just yet," says Hanneko. "Violence against the headmaster is against the rules, Miss Darlington."

Alice looks like she wants to say something, but then she just stands still and cries angrily.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can we get back to how Hanneko made all these people disappear?!" Bunpei came out from the curtains. He and the other backstage crew are dressed in black.

"Wait—Don't tell me—" began Tougo, but he was cut off.

"That's right, Hanyai. These people are NPCs!"

"NPC? Like something in a game?" This comes from Nezumi.

"Yep. In case most of you dipshits haven't figured it out yet, you are currently mentally in a game~" Hanneko explains.

"That—That makes no sense!" Kotaka yells this.

"Oh, but it does. You know that feeling of amazement you get whenever you walk in and see the theater? That's when your brains are mentally changing from the real world to this virtual reality!"

"But—That still makes no sense!" Bunpei yells this with a confused look on his face.

"Doesn't need to, kid. Point is your friend is dead—"

"Wait," said Tobiki. "If this is inside a game area, then anyone who died here—"

"Nice try, kid. But we're doing stuff Sword Art Online style here," said Hanneko. "Their brains are shocked, and they're killed in real life. You won't be seeing that meathead again outside of a refrigerator."

Tobiki looks downward and becomes very obviously upset. Nezumi tries to comfort him, but she's crying too much for it to be effective.

"OMG, SAO is one of my favorite older shows!" Only one person could have said something so stupid. Ying slaps her.

"Take this seriously! Yanacchi just got stabbed to death by Irina," she said to Neko. "This isn't a game!"

"But it is," said Hanneko.

"I swear to god, I will destroy you," said Jay. No one's really fond of Hanneko, but Jay was obviously the most hateful toward him, so I wouldn't be surprised if she were to act on this.

"Um… that brings up another point…" said Ko quietly.

What point?

"I know exactly what she means," said Alice. Most of the tears have left her face, which is pink with anger (even under all her makeup). "There's no point in even doing an investigation. We saw that stupid slut kill Tamaki with our own eyes, so we may as well—"

Tougo gets up and slaps her. "Hypocrite," he says. "Don't insult another friend while telling someone not to insult Yanaihara." She begins to cry again, silently this time. Dear God, why is everyone so violent today?

"Everyone, can we please stop assaulting each other? We still have to investigate, and fighting amongst ourselves will only lead to our demise," said Yasushi.

"But—"

"I have some explaining to do," said Hanneko. "Since this is way too freaking obvious, I'll rule the clever bastard who put the knife in with the props as the culprit. I can't just have you all vote on something so obvious, that's boring as hell. There's no suspense, and the ratings won't be as good. Miss Esperanza will just be seen as an accomplice, but who knows? She may have been the one who put the knife there." Ratings?

"Ay, Dios mío! Tienen que creerme, no lo hice! Por favor, no podría matar a nadie!" I have no actual idea what the hell Irina's saying, but I'm guessing she's pleading her case. She's very clearly shaken by this. I probably shouldn't just yet, but I don't believe she intended to kill anyone either.

"Está bien, amiga. Resolveremos que paso, relájate," said Tougo comfortingly. Irina calmed down a bit, but she was still visibly upset. When did they get so close? Anyway, I shouldn't think about that right now.

"In any case, you losers are wasting precious investigation time. Good luck~" said Hanneko before disappearing to god knows where.

"But how are we even supposed to investigate?" Nezumi asked this. "The only evidence we have so far is that the knives were replaced."

"How do we know they were replaced, Nezu-chan?" Neko asked this.

Nezumi looked slightly annoyed. "Don't call me that," she said. "And the remaining members of the set crew can attest to that. There's a room hidden in the prop shop that has fake weapons for scenes like—well, yeah."

"I've never heard of such a room," said Kotaka.

"That's because it's a secret. The only people who know about it are me, Bun-kun, Tobi-kun, and Rin-chan," said Nezumi.

"Then it's obvious that one of you did it! Fess up, lowlife!" Alice yelled at us. She seemed to look at me the most, though.

"Whoa, we can't say that for certain," said Bunpei.

"And just why not?" Ying this time.

"Because… Rin-chama, say something!" I sighed. Why would Bunpei throw me under the bus like that?

"Uh… Okay, for starters, we need to look at the knife," I say. That was the first thing that popped into my head, and I really wanted to get the attention away from me.

"It's just a typical knife," said Nezumi.

"Of course it's not, silly little mouse," said Alice. "It's the knife that killed Tamaki…"

"Um, Alice-san has a point… kinda. That knife's from the kitchen," said Ko. "I think it's part of a matching set…"

"But it looks exactly like the prop knives," said Tobiki. That cat bastard. He knew something like this was going to happen.

"I feel like that's no coincidence," I said. "I think Hanneko expected something like this to happen."

"Figures," said Jay.

"Well, should we split up for a while to cover more ground? There was evidence in other places last time, and this may be the case again," said Tougo.

"Okay, but should someone keep watch here?" Yasushi asked this.

"I can do so," Tougo replied quickly. "Furuda, stand watch with me." Bunpei agreed readily. But why Bunpei? I know Irina would probably not want to, and Bunpei's not really one for investigating… I guess I answered my own question there.

I left the stage to go to the props room. Everyone else pretty much dispersed. Neko and Jay went with Irina (probably to console her). Yasushi and Ko went to console Alice. Nezumi and Tobiki followed behind me.

We walked in the props room, and it was significantly messier than when I first saw it. Tools were lined with sawdust and paint was splattered everywhere.

"Let's investigate the weapon room," said Tobiki. We all walked toward the door hidden by boards. This room looks pretty much the same as when I entered it with Bunpei (minus the prop knife set that was used in the play). We looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"This is odd," I heard Nezumi say from across the room.

"How so?" Tobiki asked.

"This room looks pretty much the same. It even has all the same stuff except the knife set," said Nezumi. I think I see what she's getting at.

"You're trying to say that it's odd how there's nothing here that seems out of place? Not even the knife that should have been part of that set?"

"Yeah," she says. "It might be in the culprit's room!"

"Then we should go look in them," said Tobiki.

"Alright. If it's okay with you guys, I think I'll investigate somewhere else," I said. They both say it's fine, and we part ways after going back to the stage together. Tougo and Bunpei are both sitting by Tamaki's body.

"So, did you find anything? I'm sure Rin-chama—"

"Sorry, Furuda-kun, but so far we only noticed that the fake knife was missing," I said, cutting him off.

"So, you know where it is, right? Then you shouldn't need to go there," said Tougo.

"Yeah, Wakabayashi-kun and Mouse girl are going to search rooms," I said.

"That's not where it is," said Tougo assuredly. What?

"We're not dealing with an idiot here. If anyone kills, they'll put the most effort into not getting caught. They wouldn't be so dumb as to try to hide it in their room," said Tougo. I open my mouth to make a rebuttal, but then I realize he has a valid point.

Eh. It could still help investigations if we had someone searching rooms, so I don't mention anything to Tobiki and Nezumi yet. I run to where I think Tougo says the fake knife is. On my way there, I see Irina, Jay, and Neko sitting in the cafeteria.

"Daijoubu, Iririn! We'll find the hannin and clear your name! Anshin-shite!" There was Neko talking in that annoying way in which she talks. Iririn—I mean Irina just looked downward sadly. Even when she's sad, she's enviably gorgeous. No wonder Tougo probably likes her.

"Hey," I say to them. "Can I talk with Irina for a moment?" Irina looks up at the mention of her name, and Jay and Neko move to another table.

"Sí?" Irina looks at me questioningly. We've never really talked before this, I realized.

"Uh… so, you're not the culprit, right?" Smooth.

"Yes! I didn't know those knives were—I never got to use the props, so—"

"Wait," I say. "You guys never ran through the entire thing before the show?"

"No! Furthermore, I never knew about the secret room in the props room and—"

"Okay, calm down. It's harder to understand you when you talk fast in that accent."

"I'm sorry. My accent normally comes out when I'm scared or nervous," she says. That explains a lot.

I continue speaking. "So, you never got to rehearse with the knives?"

"No! During the rehearsals, the handsome blue-haired boy just told me to grab the closest one to me when we did the performance."

"What, you mean Glasses?"

"Yeah. He's also my partner for the classmate-watching thing. He can vouch for me," she said. I'm starting to feel weird pangs… Anyway, I have to ignore that. As much as I don't want to believe it (what the hell? Why should that bother me?), Tougo is starting to look more suspicious. He did last time as well, but why would he volunteer so readily to watch Tamaki? Plus, he did write the script and instruct Irina on which knife to grab.…

But if he did it, he wouldn't go to Irina's defense so quickly. If he were the culprit, he'd probably try to make her look even more suspicious.

I tell Irina thanks for the information, then decide to go to the kitchen like I intended. Ko, Kotaka, Ying, and Yasushi were all there.

"I'm sorry! I noticed one day that one knife was missing, but I saw it soon afterwards, so I thought nothing of it! This is all my fault," said Ko.

"No, it's not," said Kotaka. "You've done a good job managing the kitchen, don't worry." I'm starting to think Kotaka might have a bit of a soft spot for Ko.

"Hey, Icchi! Nakacchi's here," said Ying.

"Yeah, I'm here to see if the fake knife is—"

"Excuse me? Can I have your attention? Investigation time is soon coming to a close. Do any last-minute lookovers and meet me in the gymnasium. The class trial will start in twenty minutes. Thank nya for listening. Bye~"

Oh, crap! The trial's starting soon, and I barely had any evidence! Wow, how arrogant of me. The kitchen group, Tobiki, and Nezumi probably collected a lot of information as well. I'm not sure if Alice or the girls with Irina were able to do much, and I'm pretty sure Tougo and Bunpei just inspected the area they were confined to…

The twenty minutes pass faster than expected. I spent some of that time discussing with Yasushi, Kotaka, Ying, and Ko, but they didn't find much either. We all walked to the gym together, and Tougo and Bunpei showed up soon. Nezumi still wasn't here, so I used my ElectroID to see where she could be. I saw her name in a rectangular area inside the props room. Judging from the location, that must be the weapons room. It isn't labeled, for some reason.

"Ugh! Where is that slowpoke mouse? I'm ready to start the trial," said Hanneko. Appearing out of nowhere, as usual. I checked the ElectroID again, and her name was now in the hallway on the way to the gym. The room inside the props area has disappeared completely now. This is just getting more odd, but I make a mental note of it.

"I'm here," said a winded Nezumi as she ran towards the logo. She put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.

"Yo, Karacchi," said Ying as she tossed a water bottle from her bookbag towards Nezumi. "My first rule for survival is to always keep water with you, even if you might have access to water." I just noticed that Ying had a bookbag with her. Now that I realize it, I've never seen her without it…

"Thanks, Yin-chan," said Nezumi. Without warning, the logo descended. This is it. We're going into the courtroom now. I have close to no evidence, so I'm hoping for the best.

But of course, hope is useless here.

* * *

><p>The courtroom now looks… odd. The walls have been painted sky blue, and the podia are now surrounded by columns that look like giant bones. Smaller bones branched off from them, and skulls were placed at the ends of each smaller bone. They looked like… bony trees of death. Wow, that was lame. But still, this was like a pretty morbid forest.<p>

"So? Whatcha think? Fitting look?" What nonsense is Hanneko spouting now? This look doesn't fit at all…

"Yeah," said Tougo. I look at him questioningly, and he does that thing where he tells me the answer to the exact question I was thinking.

"One of the scenes in the play involves the main character running off into the forest while hiding from the police, and she begins to see the trees as bones," he says. Jesus Christ, what kind of fucked-up play was that?

"Anyway, stand by your podiums, we're about to start this," said Hanneko. I walk over to my podium and look at the others once I get settled. I notice the pictures in Shinobu's and Tamaki's places. Shinobu's X is the four-pointed star that helped solve the case, and Tamaki's picture is crossed out by a hand needle and a paintbrush.

"Alrighty! Everyone settled? Good! The class trial is now in session, and you all should know the rules by now, so I won't bother explaining. Fire away, and remember that your lives are on the line! Figure out who used poor Irinya in their scheme to escape this place!"

"Alright," said Kotaka commandingly. "Let's begin by discussing what we know."

Silence. It's broken by Bunpei after a couple of minutes.

"Aagh! Please don't say that you guys don't have any leads," said Bunpei.

"Well, not really. All we know is that the knife is from the kitchen and there's a hidden props room," said Yasushi.

"There's more than that," said Tougo. "Nakauchi, enlighten us."

Why do I have to do all the work? Oh, well. "Uh… The two knives were switched out, and I'm willing to bet that the fake knife is still in the kitchen," I said.

"Wait—so, if the knife's in the kitchen and it was switched out with the fake knife, then…" Nezumi trailed off.

"Yes, you're on the right track, Karafuto," said Tougo. "The culprit has to be someone who's been able to visit both the theater and the kitchen."

"Sugoi! That narrows it down to…" Neko thought for a moment, and a look of horror struck her face. "ALL OF US HAVE BEEN IN BOTH OF THOSE PLACES!"

"Not necessarily," said Jay. "Remember, the prop knives came from that secret room, and the only four people that confessed to having visited it are Rin, Nezumi, Tobiki, and Bunpei."

"So, one of those four did it," Alice accused. She was still glaring madly at me.

"You've got that wrong," I say. She looks almost offended that I'd challenge her.

"H-How?!"

"Okay, this is really leaving a lot up to chance, but remember that these ElectroIDs have maps showing real-time locations of all the students in the school no matter where they are," I began. "While we were each given partners, that in no way restricts you from seeing where anyone else is. There's a good chance that the culprit noticed the members of the set crew enter this room."

"But how would they know that the other room was there? Isn't it inside the props room itself?" Yasushi asked this. **(Silly Author's Note: I just noticed that the word "sushi" was in Yasushi's name, and it's somewhat amusing to me).**

"Yes, it is. This is where it's left up to chance. The room within the room only ever shows up when someone's inside it. A rectangular outline matching the shape of the room appears. At any other time, it's invisible and not labeled," I said.

"Aha! That narrows it back down to… possibly everyone," said Neko.

"No, it doesn't. Set crew," said Tougo. "When did you guys notice the secret room?"

"I found it late in the afternoon on Tuesday," said Bunpei.

"So, it was a while before _that_ happened," said Tougo.

"Before what happened?" asked Alice.

"I think I know," I said. "He means before we were assigned partners to watch."

"So, you're saying that the culprit could be anyone on the set crew, partnered with the set crew, Hikikomori-san, and whoever's partnered with Hikikomori-san?" Ko asks this.

"Honestly, I think those are the most likely people," I said. I knew I was grouped in that, but I was confident that I could prove that I wasn't the culprit.

"Wait," said Kotaka. "We're overlooking something that I think is very suspicious."

"What could that be, Icchi?" Ying spoke up.

"The play itself," she said. Tougo looked slightly shocked.

"How is it suspicious?"

"How is it _not_ suspicious? It's about a girl who murders her own freaking family. You're the one who wrote it—to be honest, it was obvious that Yin-cchi didn't contribute too much. You're the one who gave Iri-cchi the instruction to pick up the knife closest to her despite the fact that you're not even a director, and you were quickest to volunteer to watch Tama-cchi along with the most trusting and the least intelligent person here," said Kotaka. Even in this serious situation, she's using her Ying-inspired nicknames…

"Furuda-kun, aren't you offended?" Tobiki asked this.

"Nah, it's kinda true. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, and I do trust you guys! But starting an argument right now won't do any good, so we may as well wait until after the trial is over," said Bunpei. Despite what Kotaka says, Bunpei is intelligent for making such a decision.

"Anyway, all this makes me suspect Hanai even more. While I don't want to, he should probably be on the list of most suspect people," said Kotaka.

"That's fine," said Tougo. "But I can assure you that I never planned anything like this."

"How?"

"Well…" Tougo actually seems to be at a loss for words. That, or he's hiding something…

"It was me!"

Huh? A confession?

Irina spoke for the first time since I spoke to her. "I mean, I'm the reason for the play being so violent! I wanted to take on a new challenge with my acting, so I asked Tougo to create a character that was dark, psychotic, and slightly complex. I thought I'd want to try pulling something like that off, since I've only ever played the main girl in girly drama movies…"

Oh, so she does know his name. He's not "handsome blue-haired guy" anymore. Anyway, the entire courtroom seems to be in shock. I'm not sure if the others are taking that as a confession of guilt or not…

"So, we're back to this. Come on guys, the obvious answer is that this fucking whore killed Tamaki," said Alice. "We may as well vote—"

"Irina's not guilty," I said.

Alice looked at me. "What?"

"Irina's only ever been in the kitchen when everyone else was around, and she's never even been able to use the knives until the premiere of the play. That incident was the first time she even touched one, so she probably wouldn't have been able to feel any difference between the fake knife's handle and the regular knife's handle. The fake knives are incredibly realistic-looking," I said.

"That's true. We didn't have any props when we first ran through with the lines, and we had no time for another rehearsal," explained Yasushi.

"Okay, so now what? Are there any more clues?" Ko asked this.

"Hai! There's got to be more clues-desu!" Dear freaking god.

"Oh, really? Why don't you tell us what they are?" Nezumi seemed a bit hostile when asking this…

"The list of partners! Duh, silly baka-mouse!" Neko giggled and grinned after she made her statement. Nezumi looked increasingly more annoyed.

"Okay, you have a point. Does anyone know who was paired up with whom?" Nezumi looked around, then her gaze stopped at Yasushi.

"Oh, right, well—" Yasushi began, but he was cut off.

"Wait," said Tougo. "First, I want to ask some questions."

"Hey, don't go interrupting your vice leader," said Kotaka. She immediately placed her hands to her mouth and stopped talking. She looked embarrassed.

"Heh, thanks, but I don't mind," said Yasushi.

"Shut up," snapped Kotaka.

"Aww, Kotaka-tan's being tsundere!" Neko said this excitedly.

"Shut UP! Anyway, just continue with your question," said Kotaka.

"Wakabayashi, where was Ido on Wednesday morning after the meeting?" Huh? What did this have to do with anything?

"Uh, she stayed in the cafeteria with Ying for about an hour after the meeting ended," said Tobiki.

"Yes! She reminded me to check my partner using the ElectroID!"

"Irrelevant," said Tougo. "Neko—."

"Neko-_chan_—"

"Right. Can you tell me where Karafuto was late Wednesday afternoon?"

"Yeah! She and Rin-tan were in the gym!" Neko then smiled and gave a victory sign.

"Ying," said Tougo. "Where was Furuda on Thursday evening?"

"Oh, so now I can say something relevant? Anyway, when I checked the ElectroID, he was just in the theater with Karacchi and Wakabacchi. They didn't look suspicious, so I didn't check again that night," she said.

"Alright. Yamamoto and Alice, who are your partners?" I still have no idea what he's trying to do.

"Tamaki was my partner," said Alice. "He never went in the kitchen when I wasn't around, so don't go accusing him of trying to execute himself!"

"I'm not," said Tougo.

"Uh… I was with Diplomat-san," said Ko.

"Alright, I thought so," said Tougo. He looked at Jay expectantly, and she looked back in shock as if she had a sort of realization…

"Miss Caraway," said Tougo. "Where was Nakauchi on Wednesday morning after the meeting?"

What? He used that time already… Jay looked at Kotaka slightly nervously, then she looked down. "I don't know," she said finally.

"What? Jay, you didn't know you were partnered with Nakauchi, did you?" Kotaka asked this.

"I'm sorry! I forgot to check in and never got a chance to ask. I figured maybe someone checked in on everyone—probably one of the leaders— so I didn't bother to figure out," Jay admitted, much to her chagrin.

"What? Is she supposed to be a suspect now?" Alice again.

"Nope. In fact, in my humble opinion, she's cleared of suspicion," said Tougo.

"Okay," I decided to interject. "Can you please explain what the point behind all that was, Glasses?"

"I didn't pick Furuda to volunteer completely out of doubt. I wanted to see if he knew who was partnered with himself and the set crew, by any chance. Luckily, he did, and he told me that he and Nakauchi visited the secret weapons room on Wednesday after the meeting. This clears her, since she seemed to have no idea that the room existed beforehand, and I wanted to test and see if that was true as well as confirm who was partnered with whom," he explained. "By the way, I was partnered with Irina."

"So, currently Jay and Irina are no longer suspect," said Nezumi.

"Hey! That was way too chancy," said Jay.

"Well, do you want to be clear or not?" Bunpei asked this.

"So, two out of thirteen people probably didn't do it. Good job, guys," I said.

"Hey! Watch it. You've contributed close to nothing to this trial, _hikikomori_," said Alice.

"Well, I guess it's time to change that. I think I have an idea of who it was, too," I said. Listening to everyone speaking has helped me formulate a guess. Plus, the culprit may have made an unintentional slip…

"Nakauchi-san, are you sure? It won't do any good to accuse anyone outright," said Yasushi.

"Honestly… no, I'm not," I admit.

"Nakauchi probably is right, though. The culprit revealed quite a bit of information." Tougo came to my defense.

"Guys, don't keep us waiting! Tell us who did it," said Ying.

"Ying, you should have the best idea who did it," I said looking at her. She looked surprised.

"I—How should I know?!"

"Because my prime suspect is you, Ying Yanmei!"


	8. Chapter Two: Class Trial Conclusion

Hope is a waking dream.

-Aristotle

"Wh-what?!" Ying looked startled and confused. Maybe I have it wrong…

"Don't waver, Nakauchi," said Tougo.

"Actually… She admitted to having looked at the ElectroID to check in on her partner earlier, and by process of elimination, Bun-kun is the only person who hasn't been assigned to a partner," said Nezumi.

"Wait just a minute! There is not a shred of evidence that states that Ying could have done it," said Kotaka.

"Yeah! I couldn't have done it!" Ying defended herself.

"Hm… You're right…." I really had no proof.

"Actually, we may be able to do something~!" Neko chimed in again.

"And just what would that be?" Tobiki asked this.

"We could make a Venn Diagram! One circle could feature who all visited the kitchen, and the other could show who could have gone into the props room!" That's… actually kinda clever.

"But everyone's been in the kitchen at least once," said Tobiki.

"Then we'll look at those who had an opportunity to go when there weren't so many people," said Neko.

"I… I can tell… Politician-san, Athlete-kun, Hikikomori-san, and Ying all went in the kitchen," said Ko. "Oh, and so did I! These were all when I was the only other person around there…"

"How are we supposed to trust that? Surely she's been outside the cafeteria," said Ying.

"I can vouch for her. Whenever she wasn't working hard in the kitchen or with us, she was in her room," said Yasushi. "I've never seen her name in the props room location."

"Oh, so she's similar to Nakauchi-kun?" Irina spoke again.

"… I'm sorry! I just…" Ko trailed off.

"You like having your own little place? That's understandable," said Kotaka. It really wasn't…

"Anyway, that doesn't prove anything! Nakauchi could have taken the knife out of there just as easily! Plus, Nakauchi has no one to confirm anything," said Ying.

"I… Xe never walked by the knives… xe only visited once before everyone came in, which was when I was the only other person around, then Ying came, then… Aagh!" Ko seems to feel pressured. And there goes that stupid pronoun again.

"What about the sleepover? There was no one around Rin-chan at that time. Xe could have taken the knife then," said Nezumi.

"Xe?"

"Actually…" I started, but didn't know how to end. I had no alibi for that time at all…

"Nakauchi and I were together," said Tougo.

"Aagh! Rin-tan, I didn't know you two had _that_ kind of relationship," said Neko.

"I-it's not like that!" Jeez, why was I getting so flustered?

"R-Right! I went to show Nakauchi the script, and before and after that, Nakauchi was sleeping," said Tougo. I could tell he was just as flustered as I was.

"Ah! Good, I didn't want to suspect Rin-chan," said Nezumi. She seemed relieved.

"That brings up another issue, though," said Jay. "Actually, two."

"What are they?" Bunpei asked this.

"Well, when could Ying have gotten the knife out of the kitchen? And if it was during the day, how would she have hidden it?"

"She has a point," said Ying. "It's not like I have anything to carry it in—"

"You've got that wrong!" I exclaimed.

"Huh?!"

"Ying, how often would you say that you leave your bookbag alone?"

"My- Oh…"

"Actually!" Ko yelled out. "I've asked her to leave her bookbag when we're in the kitchen. It would have been a problem if she knocked something over or it caught fire… So she's never had it in there after Tuesday morning…"

"Right! How else would I have carried a knife out? I was only ever in the kitchen when Ko was around! And she'd have heard it unzip if she were turned away from me," said Ying.

She's right… maybe I was wrong when I accused Ying. But if not her, then who could it have been?

"Actually, I have an idea."

Huh? I looked up to see who spoke. Nezumi had an uncertain look on her face, but she also looked resolved…

"As I toured the rec building one day, I came across Ying. In the basement of the building, there's a really clean hospital, probably to treat athletes who injured themselves. She was trying to bandage her stomach, so I offered to help. When I asked how she got her injury, she didn't want to talk about it… I just thought that meant she had it before and it reopened, but she could have hidden the knife in her shirt… I went to get the sign-in sheet as well, before coming here," said Nezumi. She then pulled out a folded piece of paper. It showed Ying's name (in katakana) and the time she arrived at the hospital. Wednesday, 2:24 p.m.

"I…" Ying trailed off. "I did get the injury beforehand. On a camping trip a little while before school—"

"That's a lie," said Kotaka. She looked like she might have started crying.

"Icchi? Wha—what do you mean?"

"Did you forget? We bathed together the night before we decided partners. At the slumber party," she said. "I didn't see a single scratch or wound on you—I even complimented you on how clear your skin was!"

"Oh, yeah… you did…"

"Guys," Yasushi said. "We still don't know enough. When could Ying have even had the chance to bring the knife to the props room?"

That's a good question.

"True. During the day, she's normally around people," said Bunpei.

"What's stopping her from going at night?" Kotaka looked accusingly at Ying still.

"The lights go out at ni—Ack!" Ying slipped up again.

"That's not entirely true," I said. "I've traveled during the nighttime, and the dorm hallway still had its red lights on."

"Right!" Ying jumped behind my statement, contradicting what she had said before.

"Hey, Hanneko," said Alice. "Are all the lights in the school left on at night?"

"Nope," he said. "The only lights I leave on are the ones in the dorm hallway and the ones that lead to the kitchen. Any other lights are off. Gotta save up on electric bills. Anyway, are you losers close to being done? I'm getting bored here."

"Not yet," said Nezumi.

"Exactly. There's no way I could travel in the dark with a knife safely, anyway," said Ying confidently.

"Oh, isn't there?" There's one noticeable trait about Ying that may prove that wrong.

"Ying, your title is that of Super High School Level Survivalist. I recently noticed that you carry a bookbag with you very frequently," I began.

"Y-yeah. So?" Ying's starting to look nervous.

"So, would it be too farfetched to say that your bookbag is full of survival equipment? Possibly things such as ropes, water, dried foods, or…" I paused to see if anyone would complete the thought, and Tobiki complied.

"… Flashlights?"

The rest of the students turned to look at her. Well, everyone except for Kotaka. She just looked downward with her eyes half-closed and her arms crossed.

"So, Ying. If you don't mind so terribly, can we see the inside of your bookbag?" Tougo looked at her challengingly. Ying then sighed.

"I… I give up," she whispered.

"What was that?" Kotaka's words were biting.

"You guys are right. I'm the one who replaced the knives in the kitchen and the weapons room. I'm the culprit in this case," she said. Kotaka's expression didn't change.

"But Ying… Why…?" Ko looked at her, sadness and confusion in her expression.

"Because… I want to forget…"

"Forget what?" Nezumi asked.

"She wants to forget what a horrible person she is, nya!" Hanneko spoke up excitedly.

"How was she a horrible person?" Kotaka asked this, surprisingly.

"I… Ying, don't tell me…" I read about her family in her book, but I don't believe _that_ could be true… Could it?

"Yep. You're right, no-talent. Ying Nyanmei murdered her entire family!" Hanneko explained.

Half the students gasped, but everyone had a shocked expression, including Ying. "H-how did you know—"

"Haven't you figured it out by now, toots? I know everything about you losers. I know all your secrets, all your weaknesses, and all your sins. Basically, I. Am. Your. God!" Nezumi's face looked horrified, but not in the same way as it was at Hanneko's reveal of Ying's secret.

"Ying! How could you?! Su familia!? Ay, como duermes a la noche sabiendo que—"

"Shut it, okay! I know already. I'm an evil, disgusting person with black blood for being able to live with myself. The truth is, I hated those people. My mother, who did nothing but abuse and criticize me for being noticeably heavier than I am now. My father, who turned a blind eye to everything my mom did and reprimanded me for not being as smart as my younger siblings, who they were the most proud to claim as their own. I hated them!

One day, when I was in middle school, my father and mother decided they wanted to go camping in Japan during a break. I'd about had it with these people at this point, and they explained to me several times that the camping trip was an attempt to help me 'slim down' and 'get fit,' so they had me doing all of their menial tasks and working. I wasn't nearly as stupid as they assumed me to be, as I decided to look up where we were camping. We were going to Aokigahara," she looked around to see who would recognize the name. I'm pretty sure most of us did.

"Oh, yeah! According to your book—which I _loved_, by the way—you were found there! Aokigahara, otherwise known as the Suicide Forest!" Neko held up a victory sign, probably for pointing out the notorious forest's nickname.

"Yep. Not very smart, if you ask me. But then, looking back, even I didn't know what would happen. We were a few days in, and we had just ended a hike. Around the top of that hill, they found a half-rotted corpse hanging from a tree. I wasn't fazed, as I expected something like that to happen. In a place with such a nickname, of course we'd run into a couple of corpses. As my sister, Xiaoli, turned around in shock, she accidentally ran into me and knocked me over. I fell down, and I was able to feign an ankle injury. Even then, when they thought my ankle was sprained, I was made to do work for them, but my dad decided to help find things like firewood, probably out of pity. While he went out one night, I discovered the Swiss Army knife my dad had hidden. While I knew it was probably there for defense against some large animal we may happen upon, I decided to use it for other purposes. My mother was out by a stream collecting water, since we somehow managed to run out. She wasn't expecting me to come out, so it was easiest to get her from behind.

Next, it was my siblings. Cheng decided to search for mom, since neither her nor dad had arrived yet. Xiaoli stayed in the tents. He saw mom and me, but soon afterwards he was dead, too. Unluckily for him, he tripped as he tried to run away. Both his wrists were slit, and I left him there to bleed on the ground. I returned to the tents and found Xiaoli asleep. I thought her death would be easy enough to make look like a suicide, since she had to take pills daily (for what, I never knew. They never told me anything). I shoved them all down her throat, but she choked to death.

Last, there was my dad. I had the most time to think that one through. In the end, I used a rope I found in the supplies and placed it where I figured he might enter. This, unfortunately, did not work immediately. He entered back from the south side, but the trap was in the west side. He told me that he found mom and Cheng by the river and began to worry about Xiaoli. He'd come to the center of the camping area now, and he noticed the bloodstains on my clothing. I ran out of there from the west side, jumping over my carefully placed rope, and crouched down to look for the end of it. Luckily for me, he stood right in the middle of the loop and faced me. I pulled the rope end I had over a slightly high up branch, and he fell and was knocked out. I had a rope, a high branch, and a vendetta against my unconscious father, so I don't think I need to say what happened next.

I was much calmer than any sane person would have been after murdering their immediate family, but this helped me properly dispose of evidence. I left the tents, but brought Cheng and mom's bodies back from the stream. I had to kick around some dirt to hide the blood on the ground, and I placed the army knife by Cheng. I then washed myself off by the stream and changed clothes after burying the bloodstained ones. I took a bag and everything I thought I'd need, then I walked in the opposite direction in an attempt to find my way out the forest. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't smart enough to pack a map, so I wandered around the area for months, occasionally seeing the rotting remains of those people. I had wandered toward one end of the forest, starving, weak, and wounded, and just when I was about to give up, an old man whose name I've forgotten (I think I just called him Hayacchi) found me. Turns out I wandered pretty close to the road we took to get to the forest.

I had no idea how to speak Japanese at the time, so he taught me, much like how one teaches a baby how to speak. I was able to learn quickly, and soon I became a popular topic on message boards and a popular guest for variety shows. Fortunately for me, no one ever found those bodies, and no one questioned why I was the only one to make it out alive. People really like to believe in miracles, huh?

Hayacchi gave me a cellphone and found me a place to stay, but he soon left me alone in this world. That old forgetful man didn't even put his phone number in my phone," she said, fighting back tears. I hate stories like this. I don't know if I should hate Ying for killing five people or feel sorry for her since she's known nothing but hatred and loneliness…

"Alright! It sounds like this discuss—" Hanneko began, but was interrupted by Jay.

"Wait! Ying, I still don't understand why ya did it," said Jay. She looked really upset.

"Because everything about this place reminds me of that! The lies, the deceit, the feeling that you can't trust anyone and you have no friends. The fact that I still had my fucking phone and the fact that Hanai wrote that horrible fucking play about an insane, bullied girl who killed her family, and all the fucking bones in this fucking courtroom! I wanted to get out of here! I'm sorryyyy…" At this point, Ying was in tears. Several others cried with her. Surprisingly, not Kotaka.

"Ying," she said. "You're so fucking stupid."

"Icchi… Why…"

"Because," began Kotaka. "_We_ saw you as a friend. We trusted you, you deceived us, and you treated us like obstacles. Killing someone is unforgivable, but why would you want to stoop lower and have even more blood on your hands?" Even when she was upset, Kotaka's voice was as commanding as ever.

Ying continued to cry. I couldn't really understand anything she was saying at this point.

"She says 'I'm sorry, everyone. I was stupid'," said Tougo.

"Okay, enough of this sappy bullshit," said Hanneko. "Are you bastards gonna vote or what?"

Our ballots were cast in front of us. The air suddenly felt heavier. After a few minutes, everyone had voted on the culprit.

"And… You all are… correct! Ying Yanmei was the one to put the fake knife in the weapons room!" Hanneko jumped out of his seat excitedly. "Now it's time for a Super Special—"

"Wait!" Ying interrupted again.

"I swear to me, you all need to stop interrupting me! Expect something to be added to the rulebook later!"

"Icchi," said Ying as she turned to Kotaka. "Thanks for being my friend. Mànzŏu, dàjiā. Take care, you guys," she said as she turned to us. "I hope you make it out alive."

"Alright, if you assholes are done, it's time to start Ying's punishment!" Hanneko pushed a button that opened some weird door, and he led Ying away through it. A screen appeared from some sort of hiding spot, and we all turned to look at it. Ying was lying down in a forest by a tent and a fire. On the opposite ends of the fire were five headstones. Ying opened her bag and found a gun. She looked surprised, which had me guessing that she hadn't originally placed it there. After she pulled in out, the ground in front of those headstones started rising, and Ying began to look scared. Five freaking hands began to come out of the ground. Ying got up and started running away. When it looked like she was far enough away from the zombies, she slowed down, but then a giant feline monster jumped out of the trees and in front of her. She pointed the gun at it, but when she pulled the trigger, all that came out was a small foam rod with a suction cup on it. While she freaked out and stared at the monster before her, the five zombies (oddly enough, one of them was wearing a really elaborate magical girl costume) came and pulled her into the shadows. Her screams and efforts to fight them off were futile, and tears and blood stained the ground where she was being pulled away. The feline monster then unzipped from its back to show Hanneko inside it, and the words "and she was never heard from again" appeared in cursive white letters before the screen faded to black...

"Whew! That was exhausting, let me tell you," said Hanneko after coming back. We were all too shocked to say anything. Alice and Kotaka both looked horrified.

"What?" asked Hanneko. "No outbursts about how much you hate me or how you're going to take me down? Nyahahaha! You kids are losing your edge. Oh, well. Step on the logo if you want to get back to the dorms. It's been a long day." The logo began lifting, and we all scrambled to find a place on it. Once we all arrived at the gym, we started going to our rooms one by one. As I walked to my room, I got a message. _For the people! For the people! For the people!_ Kotaka sent a message saying there'd be a meeting tomorrow morning at 8:00. I powered down the device and went to my room.


	9. Chapter Three: The Research Building

Despair wishes their hope diminishes.

-Sherina Gandia

Someone was knocking on my door. I was not yet asleep since nighttime hasn't started yet, so I went to open in without thinking. I wasn't surprised to find Tougo there, still in his normal blazer and slacks ensemble.

"Hey," he said. Something about him has changed.

"Yo. What now?"

He looked as if he was about to give a typical condescending remark, but then his facial expression changed. "I.." he began. "Thanks," he said as he looked away from me.

"For what?"

"Thanks for defending Irina," he said.

"Oh. That was nothing. Just trying to stay alive, heh," I said. I suddenly started to feel really awkward.

"Oh… Okay…" he said. We stayed like that for a while, him standing in my doorway and me leaning against the wall…

"So… I still haven't told you about those conspiracy theories," said Tougo. I'm sure it could have waited until tomorrow, but I'm guessing he wanted to talk to me now, so I invited him in. He took the seat by my desk while I sat on my bed.

"So, what should I know, Glasses?" I've finally learned his name, but sometimes I end up calling him that out of habit.

He sighs out of annoyance and begins to speak. "First, you're aware of what happened before the start of the Despair Incident, correct?"

"Not at all," I said. He made another annoyed face.

"Well, I guess it's not something you need to know, since they're just theories, many of them with creators regarded as crazy people. But it all starts with who decided to plunge the world into chaos. Any interesting guesses about who that person may be?"

"Hm… Probably some powerful, lonely old man with a hatred of the world…?" I had no real idea who could have done something like that, but it'd probably be someone with lots of power.

"Not necessarily. From what I've heard, many people believe it to be a group within the old Hope's Peak Academy, foreign dignitaries with influence in Japan, and members of a mercenary group called Fenrir, or something relating to Norse mythology. But the most popular theory—and the most unbelievable, in my opinion—is that the main orchestrator behind it was a teenaged fashion model and former Hope's Peak student," he said. I suddenly remembered the dream I had earlier this week. Even though I couldn't picture a teenager doing something like that, I honestly wouldn't completely disregard it.

"I expected that kind of shocked response," he continued. "Apparently, the orchestrator behind the Despair Incident had control of a secret weapon within the old school. This weapon—what it was, I'm not entirely sure—was used to kill the student council, and the publication of the event led to unrest among the students in Hope's Peak, then unrest across the country, then unrest around the world. People fought over everything and anything. Entire countries engaged in war with other countries and each other solely for the sake of causing war. People killed other people and destroyed structures. Do you know why the orchestrator decided to begin a modern apocalypse?"

At this point, I became tired. I'm still not understanding how some of these things led to others, and it's hard to figure out what this person wanted to achieve. I lay down and answered saying that I wasn't sure why.

"The orchestrator decided to do this for the sake of despair," he said as he pushed up his glasses. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"As if I know," he said. Why not? He knows all this other shit. He then continued speaking. "All I know is that the orchestrator despaired and apparently wanted others to feel despair, thus beginning the end of the world."

"But… That didn't work," I said.

"Correct. Shortly after the world was plunged into 'despair', an organization called the Future Foundation was formed. Their objective was to reverse the destruction caused by the orchestrator and spread 'hope'," said Tougo. What's up with these abstract concepts? What were their ideas of hope and despair?

"You're probably wondering why all these abstract concepts have come about," said Tougo. I swear to god. "I have no real idea, myself. I'm not sure how these two organizations defined these idea. All I know is that they were opposites, and hope won in the end. Actually, I'm not even sure hope won out…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Around the beginning stages of the spreading of despair, alleged students of Hope's Peak—seen as symbols of 'hope'—were forced into a similar situation to the one we're facing."

"So… you mean…" We're not the first group of kids being forced to kill our friends.

"Exactly. They were locked in the old school and forced to kill each other for the hope of getting out, but in reality they'd face a world worse than their cage. Only six of those students made it out alive. I think they might have been the ones to start the Future Foundation, but I could be wrong," he said.

"That sounds just like our situation," I said.

"That's probably because it is," he said. "Isn't there anything you can deduce from all that information?"

Something to deduce? I gave it some thought.

"That must mean… There's a copycat somewhere near us," I said.

"Correct. Someone didn't appreciate the fact that the orchestrator's plans ultimately failed, so they're trying to start them up again."

"But… if a student was the one to begin it—"

"That's just a theory."

"Riiiight… Anyway, do you think there's a chance that the mastermind behind this is a student?"

"I highly doubt that. The most intelligent students here—myself included—are all very obviously against this plan, and I doubt we're that good as actors," he said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Well, the mastermind could be pretending to be stupid," I said.

"You're beginning to make me think you're the mastermind, if that's the case," said Tougo. Asshole. "Anyway, right now it's not important who's doing this. It's important that we take them down."

"How can we do that without knowing who they are?" I asked.

"I'm guessing Ido wants to discuss that tomorrow," he stated.

"So… Is there more you need to tell me?" I'm seriously hoping he says no.

"Actually…" (God damn it). "Yes. About a year or two later, the remaining people involved in the Despair Incident were rounded up by the Future Foundation and forced to undergo mental purging in an attempt to rid their minds of their thoughts of despair. I'm not sure exactly how, but it ended badly and only five of them made it out of the mental purging," said Tougo.

"I feel like you know exactly how," I said. I think I know how.

"What do you mean? You think the same thing that happened at the school happened to them?"

"Uh, yeah."

Tougo sighed. "Anyway, it took ten years after that for the chaos to stop. I'm sure most of us were born in the couple of years after it ended, so most of it didn't directly affect us."

"So it all started about 25 years ago," I said. My mind began to wander off.

"Pretty much," he said. "Hey, are you falling asleep?"

"Nah," I said unconvincingly. He glanced at me, and I'm guessing he decided to conclude it there.

"So, do you have any questions?" He asked this as he made his way to the door.

"Yeah. Why should I trust you?"

He looked shocked. "What?"

"You know too much for me to be able to think 'Oh, he probably looked it up online before.' How can I be sure you're not the mastermind?"

"Why… Why would I be the mastermind?"

"Why not? You're smart enough, you know about what's going on, you have that air of sophistication that stereotypical villains tend to have, you're good looking…" I had no idea it was possible to be that tired.

He blushed. "Wha… what was that last one?"

"I don't know. Probably something about being good at looking out for clues," I said.

"Oh… Okay…" he said. Nice save. (I think I heard something along the lines of "I don't swing that way… I think").

"Besides, I'm not the person behind this. I highly doubt that one of us is, actually," he said. "Plus, if you suspect me of being the person behind this, why do you trust me to be in your room?"

"That's a good point," I said. "Get out."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Fine," he said as he left. Finally, he left. I fell asleep thinking about what all he told me. Really, none of it made any sense to me, but in a situation where nothing makes any sense, it somehow made sense.

* * *

><p>"—Let's give it our all again today!"<p>

It's always this part. I pushed the blanket off myself—wait, I don't remember pulling the covers over myself… I realized I was wearing the same clothes from when I was working concessions, so I must not have bothered to change. But who…

Oh. My. God. I walked to my door to see if it was locked. Surely enough, it wasn't. I locked it, though there was probably no purpose in that. Gah! How could I be so careless?!

Wait… I wasn't the careless one here… Tougo was. But if he left my door unlocked, then was he… Nah. He's not that nice. Although I wouldn't put it past Nezumi… Anyway, I need to remember to lock the doors. And I probably shouldn't let that guy in again. I'm beginning to distrust him.

I prepared myself to meet with the others again. After doing all the necessary stuff, I realized I still had half an hour before the meeting started, so I decided to just head to the cafeteria to get a head start on breakfast. As I approached the door to the kitchen, Ko stopped me.

"Nakauchi-san! I'm sorry, but I can't let you in the kitchen," said Ko. She seemed more relaxed today, for some reason.

"Oh. Hi, Yamamoto-san," I said. "Wait, did you call me by my name?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed. "Ido-san asked me to learn everyone's name. She said calling you guys by your titles is too impersonal. I was also told not to let anyone in here, so I'm sorry, but can you please take a seat?"

"Oh. Uh… sure, I guess," I said. I'm a bit shocked. Ko is talking more than usual, and her voice isn't getting softer as she speaks.

"Yamamoto-san, something about you seems different," I said.

"Wha-what is it?"

"Well… You seem less…"

"Yo! Rin-chama, I didn't know you played for that team," said Bunpei. He must have arrived recently, because I don't remember him being there before.

"Wait, I do—I mean, what?! What is that supposed to mean?" What he said just registered with me.

"Hehe. Although you'll be taking away a cute girl from us guys, I can get behind that," said Bunpei with a goofy smile on his face. I noticed Ko blushing—probably because Bunpei called her cute. He then walked towards the kitchen door.

"Furuda-kun, wait! I'm not—in there—Ido-san— cute—waaahhh," said Ko. Her voice went soft again, and she sort of slid down to the ground (on what, I'm not sure). He walked in, not realizing that Ko was trying to stop him.

"Oh, no! Ido-san's going to be mad at me," whispered Ko. Her face was still pink from blushing so much.

"Don't worry, I'll explain to her," I said. Bunpei walked back out with a piece of toast in his mouth. He glanced at Ko sitting on the ground.

"…Di' I do sumfin' romg'?"

"Furuda-kun, Yamamoto-san was trying to stop you from going in there," I explained.

"Oh! Oops. Well, I guess that's to be expected. Breakfast smells delicious, by the way, Ko-chan," Bunpei said without toast in his mouth. "Anyway, I'll leave you two to your flirting." He winked and walked away. Dear god, I worry for the girls in this school.

"That idiot probably assumed I'm a girl," I said.

"Well, Nakauchi-san… What exactly are you?" Ko asked.

"Hm… I'm not gonna answer that," I replied. More students started arriving, and Ko returned to the kitchen to finish preparing. Promptly at 8:00, Kotaka began the meeting.

"Alright. We have several orders of business to discuss," she began. "First, I've decided to add some new rules in hopes of preventing further deaths. Rule number one: Absolutely no one is allowed to travel at night. From the time the night announcements are given to the time the morning announcements sound, none of us are allowed to leave our rooms or the room you happen to be in." At this, I glanced at Tougo, but he was looking away from me. It was kinda obvious he was trying hard not to look my way.

"Second," continued Kotaka. "The only person allowed to enter the kitchen is Yamamoto. She is not allowed to let anyone else in unless it is okay with me—"

"Well, Kotaka-tan, do you really think that should be the case? I mean, I kinda doubt your judgment in character," said Neko cluelessly. Jeez, even I can tell when to not bring something up. Kotaka shot her a nasty look, then continued speaking.

"Rule number three," she continued. "If you want to go somewhere outside your room, you must have at least one other person with you."

"Neko brings up a valid point, though," said Alice accusingly.

"It's Neko-_chan_," said Neko. Alice ignored her.

"Birdie, dear, were you not friends with a girl who decided to murder someone?" I can tell Alice is trying to call to question Kotaka's authority here. This probably won't end well.

"Alice, I would very much appreciate it if you would shut your fucking mouth," said Kotaka. I can tell she's trying to conceal her anger, but it's coming out in her voice. Alice did not shut her fucking mouth, by the way.

"I mean, you were the proud best friend of a serial murderer, and—"

"Shut it, Alice," said Tobiki.

"Excuse me?" She looked offended.

"No one here is happy about the fact that Ying and Yanaihara-kun both died yesterday, but none of us could have known that Ying was capable of doing such a thing. The only living person that knew she killed her family was herself, and we know Yanaihara-kun was your best friend here, but it's not fair to take your anger out on Ido-san. If we continue like this, we'll all end up losing friends." Tobiki looked directly at Alice, but it seemed like his mind was elsewhere…

_He was first to lose a friend._

"In any case, Yamamoto is the only authorized personnel for the kitchen, and that's final," said Kotaka. "Attempts at causing unrest will not be tolerated."

"So, is there some sort of punishment for breaking these rules?" Neko again.

"I… I guess not," said Kotaka. "I'm relying on you guys to have integrity and not try anything underhanded. If you're worried you can't do that, Alice, I'm sure we can come up with something appropriate for you as a punishment. Next order of business, Karafuto has something to share."

"Right!" Nezumi stood up. "Another door has been unlocked. That door leads to a hallway that leads to a super awesome building! It's got libraries and science labs and a huge greenhouse garden at the top floor! I think we should investigate it after this meeting ends."

"Libraries? Sounds interesting," said Yasushi. Murmurs arose from everyone else.

"Please be silent," said Kotaka. "Now, we have one more matter to discuss. We need to find a means of escape from this school and find a way to take down the mastermind."

"As if that'll work, nya~" Hanneko jumped on the table and walked towards Kotaka's end. A couple of the girls screamed.

"The only person here with the slightest clue as to who the mastermind could be is completely wrong," he said. I glanced at Tougo. He looked puzzled.

"Waaaaait…" said Nezumi. "Does this mean you're dropping the whole independently operated shtick?"

"Well, it's incredibly obvious I'm being controlled by someone, genius. Bet you'll never guess who~. In any case, there's no way out for all of you in this world. Maybe in the afterlife, but I doubt you losers want to go through that. It's stay here forever or sacrifice everyone in the making of a perfect crime! That's the only way for _one_ of you to leave," said Hanneko. He then bounced off the table and into the ceiling somehow. I don't think anyone saw how he disappeared, but I'm pretty freaked out.

"I hate that damn cat," said Jay.

"Anyway, ignore him. We will find a way out, and we will make it out alive," said Kotaka. I admired those hopeful words of hers. She tried her best to be a good leader in a bad situation.

"Breakfast is ready, everyone," said Ko.

"Alright. Meeting adjourned until tomorrow," said Kotaka. Ko decided to put all the plates on a cart and roll them out. I guess that's good for keeping up with Kotaka's rule. We all ate and chattered about, and Nezumi took a seat near me after getting her food.

"Hey, Rin-chan! Feels like it's been a while since we talked," said Nezumi.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said.

"Want to go see the new building with me? I'm still making maps for it, so I need to go back," she said excitedly. I can tell she really likes this building.

"Alright, I'm game," I said.

"Oh! Can I join you two?" An unexpected voice asked this. Irina took a seat between me and Tougo, but she looked at Nezumi and me.

"Sure thing, Iririn," said Nezumi.

"Yay!" She seemed excited. Something about this seemed odd to me, but I decided to ignore that feeling.

After an hour in the cafeteria, Nezumi and I went to the door for the new building. Irina followed closely behind us. Nezumi showed me the labs, and I walked around to look at the cabinets and drawers. Irina stood behind me, looking over my shoulder. I read the label on some bottles and containers, and I stood silent.

"Is something wrong?" Irina asked from behind me.

"Yeah… a bunch of these bottles are full of poison," I said. She began to frown.

"Ay, que no! We should warn the others," said Irina.

"Right," I said. Irina's acting kinda weird…

Nezumi then decided to show me the library. It was freaking huge! I'd never seen a larger collection of books before then. We ran into Tougo and Yasushi there.

"Hey, ladies and… Nakauchi-san," said Yasushi. I took no offense.

"Hey, Yasu-kun," said Nezumi. "You guys looking around, too?"

"Kinda," he said. "So far we've spent almost all of our time in here. Hanai-kun seems so at home here, so I'm not too keen on interrupting him."

"Tougo-kun is here, isn't he? Hola, amigo! Has visto el laboratorio abajo de este piso? Ten cuidado, porque hay venenos," said Irina.

Tougo looked up from his book. "Ay, Irina! No debes hablar de eso así casualmente! Dilo a Ido, ella sabrá que debemos hacer."

"Pero, Tougo-kun, los otros no pueden comprender que decimos, entonces está bien—"

"Okay, I'm tired of hearing this," said Kotaka. She walked over to us from another tall shelf. "You guys, please speak in a language we can all understand. I think I heard my name, so does anything you two discussed involve me?"

"Probably. The lab downstairs has poison in it," said Irina. Kotaka's face turned white.

"Okay… I guess I need to add another rule," she said. She then pulled out her ElectroID and began typing. Minutes later, I got a message saying "New rule: No one is allowed in the laboratory at all." Alrighty then.

"Anyway, if you two keep speaking aloud in Spanish, I'm going to assume you both have something to hide. Is that the case?" Kotaka acknowledged Irina and Tougo.

"No, ma'am," said Tougo.

"Alright. Carry on." Kotaka returned to the shelf she was examining. I decided to look around a bit. I then noticed a familiar title on a table…

"_Aokigahara Months_? This was Ying's book," I said. Irina (I'm beginning to notice a pattern here) peeked at it from over me.

"Can I see?" I handed her the book, not questioning why she would want to look at it. I then heard the shuffling sound of papers falling to the ground.

"What's that?" I asked. Nezumi and Irina picked them up. Both of them then gasped.

"These are… pictures," said Nezumi. Nothing unusual about that, so why was she so freaked out? Yasushi walked towards them, then gasped as well.

I walked to see what could be so shocking, expecting it to be nothing. I gasped as well. The picture on top was one of Ying and Shinobu. Ying's arm was around Shinobu's shoulder, and Ying was smiling widely and giving the victory symbol. Shinobu looked away from the camera and had his arms crossed. Both of them were wearing brown uniforms and sitting in what looked to be a classroom without boarded up windows and cameras. The sun shone through the windows, and both of them seemed happy (although Shinobu tried to hide it).

Alright, now I'm _ridiculously _confused.


	10. Chapter Three: Suspicion and Dissention

**Author's Note: Hello! Time for a Super Special Saturday Update :D ! Updates normally come out on Tuesday, but I'm thinking of changing to biweekly releases just to keep this story from going on for so long. Anyway, I would like to apologize for how lame the second chapter trial went and for how much worse the writing was. I was kinda rushed, heh. Even so, I hope you enjoy the future chapters, and I hope you guys don't hate me for the uber lame plot twist that's coming up on Tuesday. Please review if you have speculations or constructive criticism~**

* * *

><p>Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.<p>

-Ambrose Bierce

"Nya, I see you guys've found those," said Hanneko. We looked around to see where he was, but we couldn't find him until he jumped down from a shelf and landed on all fours in a typical feline fashion.

"Can you please stop doing that?" Tougo decided to look up from the book he was so intently reading for a moment.

"Anyway," said Hanneko, ignoring Tougo. "Since I'm sure you're all wondering, those photos aren't fake. They're one-nyandred percent real!"

"But—What is the meaning of this? When could these two have taken this picture?" For once, I'd seen Kotaka freaking out. Clearly this is a pretty big deal.

"Nya, I'm getting tired of these plot twists and such, so I might tell you soon. But for now, your guess is as good as any," said Hanneko. "Later, losers!"

Hanneko then hopped away, leaving us with more questions than answers, like normal. Yasushi walked behind Kotaka and glanced at the pictures. There were two more behind the one with Ying and Shinobu. One of them featured Tobiki and Kenzo looking at blueprints much like how they were on Monday (Tamaki sat and smiled while observing them), and the other showed Jay, Neko, and Irina smiling and waving at the camera. Neko was wearing her normal kitty hat, and all three were wearing brown uniforms similar to the one Ying had in the first picture.

"Irina-san," said Yasushi. "Do you remember taking a photo like this?"

"Not at all! I mean, I've done similar shoots for school uniforms, but I don't remember ever working with Jay and Neko," explained Irina.

"Irina-chan, I keep asking you to call me Neko-chan," said Neko.

Kotaka looked at Neko, who had just arrived. "What is the meaning of this?" As if Neko would have any clue.

"Gomen, kedo wakarimasen. I don't remember that shashin at all," said Neko. She's reverted back to her weeaboo speech. Kotaka looked at her in annoyance.

"Everyone," said Kotaka. "Emergency meeting at noon. Tell your partners. Hanai, tell Alice; Irina, tell Furuda. Attendance is mandatory." She then left, asking Yasushi to come with her.

"So, what'd I miss?" Could Neko be any more clueless?

"Look at these photos," I said to her. She examined them carefully, then placed them back on the table.

"Wow! Whoever made these must be really good at photoshop! These almost look real," she said. Tougo slapped his palm against his forehead.

"I don't think these are fake," said Nezumi. "There's a reason these were found in Ying's book. Maybe Hanneko wants us to figure something out?"

"Like what? That we all took photos together that we don't remember even though we only met on Monday? I don't see what that could achieve," said Irina.

"Isn't it obvious? Hanneko's trying to tell us that we've had our memories tampered with," said Tougo. The other girls gasped.

"I… That doesn't make sense," I replied. Tougo raised an eyebrow at me, then lowered it back. How could he have reached such a conclusion?

"Nothing here makes sense. Try to think it through, Nakauchi, Karafuto," he said. "I'm leaving." He picked up two of the books he was looking at, then walked out of the library.

"Wait. Should one of us go with him?" Neko asked this.

"He's probably just going to his room," said Nezumi. "We still have an hour until the meeting, so I'll stay with you guys for a while."

"Then I'll go with Hanyai-kun! You know, just to make sure he follows Kotaka-tan's rule, hehe," said Neko. She then left with a goofy smile on her face.

"I'll… I'll go with them. I'm not sure I trust Neko alone with Tougo-kun. Catch up with ya later," whispered Nezumi. She left Irina and me in the library. So… I guess I'll talk to Irina until the meeting. I still never got a chance to really speak to her.

"So… Wanna go to the other floors?" I asked. Irina nodded and followed me to the stairs. There wasn't much on the third floor besides locked doors (probably to classrooms), but the last floor had a huge greenhouse. Most of these plants looked like none I've ever seen before, but most of the flowers were all very beautiful and fragrant. Further into the greenhouse, we saw several different trees with fruits growing on them.

"Well, I guess this explains where all the fruits come from," I said.

"I guess, but this place is still too convenient," said Irina. I agree. She looked upward.

"Hey, you think that's the real sky?" I looked up as well, and while it did look like a daytime sky, something about it seemed artificial. Of course, trusting your senses in this school might cause one to abandon logic. Logic… Could such a word even be applicable here? I guess maybe in trials…

"I don't think so," I said. "Even so, this place is ridiculous. It almost feels like we could just break the glass and escape from here—although that probably wouldn't be a good idea, now that I think about it."

Irina giggled. "Hey, I never did thank you for defending me, did I?"

That was unexpected. "I guess not. It's alright. Anyway, Glasses already thanked me on your behalf, I guess, so don't worry about it," I said. She looked surprised for a moment, then smiled.

"Well, I guess I'll have to thank him for thanking you… Or something," she said. Even with her braids and abnormally big glasses, she's still probably the prettiest girl here. I began to wonder about something…

"Hey, Irina," I said. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," she said.

"Well… I don't mean to be rude, but…" I'm not entirely sure if asking this would be rude, but my curiosity's getting the best of me.

"Do you… Are you and Glasses—"

"I had a feeling you'd ask about that," she said. I must have become visibly nervous, since she started giggling at me again.

"How did you know?" I tried to maintain a poker face.

"I used the mystic mind-reading power of my crystal ball glasses," she said in a stereotypical Hispanic fortune-teller accent (still not sure whether that's kinda racist or not).

"Hehe, I'm just kidding. But…" She hesitated and glanced at me coyly. "I don't know. People used to tell me that I 'fell' for people way too quickly and that I was too flirty, so I'm not sure. I liked talking with him because he knew how to speak Spanish really well, and I think he's kinda cute, but I guess my feelings are kinda jumbled. Plus, this isn't exactly the kind of situation that's conducive for romances."

I see what she means. It was kinda silly for me to ask something like that anyway.

"Why? Do you like… well, I guess either of us?"

Huh? That was _really_ unexpected. "I—uh… what?"

"Hehe. Sorry, but much like the other kids here, I'm not too sure what you are, so I'm not sure if you asked that in hopes of pursuing me or Tougo-kun," she said. I wanted to change the subject.

"Uh—anyway, why would you tell me that so readily? Just out of curiosity," I said. She complied, to my relief.

"I don't know. I guess that means I trust you," she said. "Also, it's not good to be dishonest here, so I'm willing to tell anything that anyone needs to know." I didn't really _need_ to know that, but I guess that's a good thing. Maybe that's part of why she seems to attract so many people to her.

"So, your family name is 'Esperanza.' That sound Hispanic, so does that mean you're from Spain or South America?" Wow, that was a stupid question. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice.

"Actually, I was born and mainly raised here. But even since then, I spent summer in Peru, where my parents came from. My mom is Japanese, but my dad was a mix of Japanese and Peruvian I believe. Also—" she looked around for a while. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure," I said.

"My family name is actually Fujimori," she said. I'm not sure why she'd want to keep that a secret, considering she's so willing to talk about other more personal things.

"Okay… but why keep that a secret?"

"Because the name sounds so boring. I liked the sound of the word 'esperanza,' so I decided to use that as my stage name," she said.

Fujimori… It's kinda common, but it's not that bad. Actually, that sounds kinda familiar…

"Uh… Okay," I said. "But aren't there other famous people with the name 'Fujimori'?"

"None that are interesting. You might be thinking about one of my relatives, though. He was president of Peru in the nineties," she said disinterestedly.

"That seems pretty interesting to me," I said. Irina just rolled her eyes.

"Maybe, if you're in to politics. But I never liked that stuff," she said dismissively. "Being on a stage singing seems like more fun than being on a stage giving a speech."

Hm… I could see what she means, but really, both of those fields have their own merits.

"Hey, it looks like it's almost noon," said Irina.

"That was fast," I said. "I guess we should go to the cafeteria soon."

We both left the greenhouse (after being lost for a couple of minutes) and made our way to the cafeteria. Kotaka was already standing at the head of the table and checking to see who had arrived.

"Alright, so, Kawai, Hanai, and Alice aren't here yet," said Kotaka, observing the faces of those that had arrived. I didn't see Ko anywhere either, so I figured she was in the kitchen. I kinda wanted to help, but I didn't want to piss off Kotaka, so I just took a seat.

"Yeah. I think Alice is in her room, and Neko and Tougo-kun are together somewhere," said Nezumi.

"But Megane-kun, I just wanna knoooooow."

"Please leave me alone. That's none of your business."

"You totally do, huh?! Who is it? Dare ka?"

"Whatever you two are talking about, can it wait for about an hour?" Kotaka tried to keep a calm voice, but she looked irritated.

"Yes, please," said Tougo as he took a seat on the further end of the table. Neko sat next to him.

"So, what's this meeting about?" Bunpei asked.

"Let's wait until Alice arrives. I don't want to explain myself again," said Kotaka. Shortly afterward, Alice arrived. She replaced her usual sweet Lolita style with a gothic one, wearing a black dress with several skull and bone motifs as well as a matching purse. She somehow managed to have her makeup done so that she looks even more pale than normal and her eyes more exaggerated. The lightest thing on her was her long burgundy wig. The situation with Tamaki must have affected her more than we'd realized. I can't believe I didn't notice this transformation before.

"So, why are we here?" Alice asked as she walked towards the table. She sat across from Tougo and Neko.

"We're here to discuss what many of us found in the library," said Kotaka. "Sugihara, place the photos on the table."

Yasushi sighed and placed them so that anyone that needed to see them could see them. Everyone that hadn't seen them before looked shocked and confused, as should be expected. Murmurs started, and Kotaka quickly raised her hand to quiet them.

"In any case, we need to discuss what exactly this could mean," said Kotaka.

"Isn't it obvious? Hanneko's trying to mess with us and have another murder happen. Quite frankly, I don't appreciate it at all," said Alice.

"What do you mean, Alice-san?" Tobiki asked, looking alternately at her and the picture of himself and Kenzo. Alice scoffed at him.

"He's trying to play with our heads. He'll do something like offer answers to what those pictures mean as incentives for murder, and they'll probably not even have much to do in solving our situation. I think we should just ignore them," she said.

"While I agree that this isn't something that should cause such an issue between us to lead to another trial, I don't think ignoring them is the best idea," said Nezumi.

"She's right. We should solve this without sacrificing more people," said Tobiki.

"It's pretty much already been solved," said Tougo. "We've had our memories tampered with."

"How can you be so sure?" Alice looked challengingly at Tougo.

"Because this has happened before. Believe it or not, this isn't the first time a situation like ours has occurred," he said.

"What do you mean? Hanai-san, please explain," said Yasushi. Hanai then gave a basic overview of one event during the Despair Incident (he referred to it this time as the "School Life of Mutual Killing"). Why is he hiding everything else? He didn't mention anything outside of the School Life of Mutual Killing outside who the mastermind could be (my money's still on the teenage girl).

In any case, realization soon struck the other students. Most everyone seemed to understand the situation better, but of course, someone had to cast doubt.

"Hanai," said Kotaka. "How exactly do you know all this?"

"What do you mean?" Tougo said. I feel like he knew exactly what she meant, but what's he hiding?

"I mean where did you learn this? None of us have heard as many details about this as you're giving us. It's incredibly suspicious," said Kotaka. The others began to murmur again, and Tougo looked pensive.

"I… I don't know," said Tougo.

"Stop lying to us, Hanai," said Alice. "You're hiding something. Spill it."

"I honestly don't know how I know," said Tougo. For the first time, I saw him with a look as if he really didn't know the answer. It kinda worried me.

"Um… Maybe he read it in a book somewhere," said Ko, standing on the table side opposite of Kotaka. That was startling. I didn't even see or hear her enter.

"Oh, really? What book could that be? Despair Incident Conspiracy Theories for Dummies? No books about what happened at that time have ever been published. It's impossible for him to just _know_," snapped Alice.

"We-well… I'm sorry!" Ko said as she bowed. After looking back up, she glanced at Alice's face (probably to assess how mad she was) and paused.

"Alice-san… Have you been…" she began, but hesitated.

"I—SHUT UP, WORTHLESS KITCHEN GIRL! I'M NOT HIDING ANYTHING UNLIKE _THAT ASSHOLE_! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"HEY, CALM DOWN! Don't you dare insult Ko-chan," said Bunpei. "No one said you were hiding anything, anyway!"

"Actually," said Kotaka. "I think she might be."

What? Wait, I know what she means… Something about the events after the last trial is different from that of the first one…

"Alice, it's okay," I said. "Did Yamamoto-san notice that you had been crying?"

"Crying? Why would she be crying?" Neko asked stupidly.

"Stop talking," Kotaka said to Neko. "Alice, I know you have it. It explains why you've become even more upset."

"I don't have anything! Just leave me alone already," said Alice. She then stood up quickly and bumped into Ko. Both girls fell, and Alice's purse flew out of her hands and in Ko's direction. Everything seemed to spill out, including two ElectroIDs. Ko picked them up.

"Ah! I'm sorry for that," said Ko. "But… how do you have—"

Kotaka walked over and took the ElectroIDs out of Ko's hands.

"Alice-san… Does one of those belong to Tamaki-chan?" Nezumi asked. Alice just looked at her and Ko angrily and ran out.

"Don't stop her," said Kotaka. "She's probably just going to her room. Let her cool down." She then powered up the device. About a minute later, a hologram of Tamaki appeared.

"Excuse me," it said in a semi-robotic voice. "If you don't mind, can you please tell me who this is?"

"You're addressing everyone except Ying, Alice, Tsukuru, and Murai," said Kotaka.

"Oh, no! Are Alice-san and Ying okay?"

"Alice is fine. Ying is…" Kotaka hesitated.

"Oh… I see… Is she the one that killed me?"

"Yanaihara," said Kotaka. "Please… Can you please forgive Ying?"

"Of course," it said. "While I don't exactly like that I died, I kinda expected it to happen. I'm not exactly the strongest guy, so I apologize for not being more hopeful, but 'I knew it'd happen sooner or later.

In any case, there are things that I want to tell you guys. Thank you all for being so nice to me. At my old school, people tended to avoid me because of my hobbies and my appearance. No one ever invited me over for anything, so I was glad for the chance to be able to come here and have fun with you guys. I especially had fun at the sleepover, even though I didn't expect to. I only went because I wanted Alice-san to have fun there, but she'd refuse to go if I didn't agree to go with her. That's the only way she managed to get me to wear one of those Lolita dresses, heh. I'm sorry I don't have much else to say besides thanks to all of you. Despite the situation, I had fun this past week. Also, Wakabayashi-san, don't let what Alice-san said to you on the first day bother you. I think you're cute. Goodbye," it said before cutting off. This one was noticeably shorter than Kenzo's. Many of the girls seemed upset, and Tobiki blushed a bit.

Kotaka looked through the ID. "Just as I suspected," she began. "The sleepover was supposed to be no boys allowed. Oh, well, can't be helped now."

"Wait, it shows Tama-chan's gender in the ElectroID?" Neko asked.

"Yeah. All the ElectroIDs show that…" Nezumi replied, then glanced at me. Soon, the others turned to face me as well.

"Sorry, but I don't have my ID with me," I lied.

"Oh, really nyao?"

Hanneko landed on the table in front of me. He looked at me angrily.

"Not carrying your ElectroID is against the rules! You should know this by now, Nyakauchi!"

"Uh…" I… have I even looked at the rules?

"Don't tell me you didn't read the rules! I told you last time, you'd be punished if you don't know the rules around this place! You've been here for almost a _week_ and still didn't—"

"Rule number one."

Huh? I looked around and noticed Jay looking at her ElectroID.

"Students are to live out their lives together exclusively within the academy. Indefinitely," she read. "Attempts at contacting for help from the outside world somehow are forbidden. Rule number two, the period from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. is designated 'nighttime.' Be aware that certain areas are off-limits during this time. Rule number three, sleep is only permitted in dormitory bedrooms. Deliberate use of any other room will be treated as sleeping in class and punished accordingly. Rule number four, you may investigate New Hope's Peak Academy freely. To this end, no particular limitations have been placed on you actions. Rule number five, violence against the headmaster, Hanneko, is forbidden. Furthermore, destruction of surveillance cameras is also prohibited. Rule number six, the villain who kills one of his companions will be allowed to 'graduate,' provided his crime is not betrayed to the other students. Rule number seven, students must carry their ElectroIDs with them at all times. Rule number eight, the culprit is not allowed to kill more than two students at once. And finally, rule number nine, additional rules may be added to the list, if deemed necessary."

Hanneko looked at her angrily, then sighed. "Well, I guess I can't do anything now. Lucky you, lottery student," he said as he hopped off again.

"Uwaa~ Jay-chin's sugoi! She just totally saved Rin-tan's life," said Neko. That she did. I'll have to thank her later.

"In any case, I think this meeting is adjourned, unless someone's made progress in finding a way out of here?" Kotaka looked around, and none of the students raised their hands or acknowledged her statement. It seems like the situation with Hanneko caused everyone to forget the original issue.

"Alright," she said.

"A-also," said Ko. "Lunch is ready." Like usual, the meals themselves were uneventful. People talked as if we weren't in a life-threatening situation. Maybe that's their way of coping.

"Um," said Ko. "I'm going to bring Alice-san's lunch to her! Excuse me." She then left without protests from any of us.

After finishing, I went to look for Jay. It seems like most of the others have already found something else to do (curse my slow eating habits). I found her in the top floor of the Recreational Building with Irina and Neko. They were in… a karaoke room?

"Hey, it's Rin-tan!" Neko said. "We're gonna sing karaoke!"

"No, we're not," said Jay. "We just came to investigate this building more."

"Aww, well that's no fun," said Neko.

"Maybe we could invite the others over one day for a karaoke night," said Irina.

"Yay! Tanoshii mitai na, Irina-chan," said Neko.

"Uh… Yeah. Anyway, thanks for earlier, Jay," I said. "I think Hanneko might have killed me then. He seemed pretty mad."

"Not a problem! Now that I know you're my assigned partner, I gotta look out for ya! Need ta make sure you don't get killed and make sure you don't kill, so I'm kinda responsible for ya life here," said Jay. "Still, I didn't know what'd happen then. I kinda took a shot in the dark there."

"Wow. Anyway, thanks a lot. But how'd you know he wouldn't kill me for not having my ID?"

Jay looked at me like she already knew the answer. "Because you did have your ID. Ya told me about the meetin' through it, and when I checked in on ya, I saw you were hangin' with homegirl here," she said. I'm guessing "homegirl" is Irina. "It didn't look like you left it in your room or anythin', so figured you still had it."

"Nice job. You were right," I said.

"Hey, why do ya keep the gender thing a secret anyway?"

"Just 'cuz."

"… Alright," she said. It looks like she wants to ask, but she doesn't.

"I have a couple of questions for you," I said.

"What, another interview? Haha, I'm kiddin'. Ask away," she said.

"You're from the USA, correct?"

"Yep. Born and raised in the land of the free, now livin' in the land of the risin' sun," she said.

"I thought so. You speak the language pretty well," I said.

"Thanks. 'Cept sometimes when you guys're arguin', it's hard to understand what you're saying," she said. "I got my letter in March, so I only had a month to try to learn Japanese."

Wow. That's impressive. I'd think she studied for longer than that. "Awesome," I said. "You speak it better than Neko, to be honest," I whispered.

"Haha! Thanks, I think," she said. "So, you're probably wondering why I'd wanna come to such a far-out school in a completely different country so bad."

Only a little bit. "Yeah, kinda," I said.

"Well, after readin' up about it, I learned how high the success rate for graduatin' students was. Naturally, I'd wanna get in on that. But a huge part of the reason why I came was because a young businessman from the Togami group was part of Class 78 at the old Hope's Peak," she said.

Togami? That name seems vaguely familiar somehow. "I think I've heard of him," I said.

"Yeah. His family was super rich and powerful, but he was able to stand on his own as well. I thought that was awesome and wanted ta be like him, but my family was kinda poor, so I started from the bottom. But now I'm here," she said. Such high ambitions. Yet another person here for me to be jealous of.

"But…" she began again. "There's not much record of what happened to him after that Despair Period thing. His family had died out, and nothing about him was written after his Hope's Peak days. I think he's still alive, though he's probably in his fifties now."

"Yeah, probably," I said. Jay sighed.

"I hope we'll be able to make it out of here," she said sadly. Me too, Jay. Me, too.

I spent the rest of Saturday goofing off for a bit, then heading right to my room. For some reason, I've been getting tired earlier on in the day, and I can't seem to bring myself to stay up. I went to sleep well before the nighttime announcements.


	11. Chapter Three: Senseless Plot Twist One!

I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair.

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

"Good morning, losers! It's Sunday, so you guys don't have any school activities to do today. Just spend the day relaxing or panicking, if nya want. Also, be prepared. Tomorrow starts a new school week, a new challenge, and a new plot twist! Nya ha ha! Later, losers!"

As I woke up to Hanneko's ever-pleasant morning announcement, I felt a chill run down my spine. I'm not sure why at all, but it was definitely not a pleasant feeling. As I got ready for the day how I normally do, I received a message from Kotaka. No morning meeting today. That was odd.

Anyway, I made my way to the cafeteria and spotted Ko and Alice talking when I got there. They didn't seem to notice me.

"Listen, my child, I do apologize for my deplorable behavior yesterday," said Alice. For once, she sounded sincere about something.

"Uh… It's perfectly fine, Alice-san. I'm sorry for being so rude and asking about it," said Ko.

"Don't worry, my child. It was especially rude for me to yell at you without reason. I was just really upset about what happened to my jewel, and seeing his dying message only left me more distraught. He wouldn't want me to be like this to everyone, so I would like to make amends, starting with you, dear," replied Alice. Even though I kinda distrust and dislike Alice, I'm proud of her for owning up to her mistakes and trying to fix them.

"Th-thank you very much, Alice-san! If it's fine with you, I'd like to be your friend! I know I'm probably not as interesting or pretty as Yanaihara-kun, but I'll try my best to be a good friend," said Ko. Alice looked pleasantly surprised.

"Why, of course! I'm willing to be friends with everyone here," said Alice. "Except for that worthless—"

"Yo, Yamamoto-san," I said before Alice could insult me (we all knew it was coming). When I called out to Ko, Alice looked at me in annoyance.

"Eavesdropping, huh? This is why I hate people like you," said Alice.

"Um, I don't think Nakauchi-san was—"

"Don't worry about it, child. Nakauchi probably just wishes to be as interesting as us, so it takes notes," said Alice. Ko laughed reluctantly.

"Uh… Yeah," I said. "Anyway, Yamamoto-san, I just want some fruit, then I'll go to my room. Can I go in the kitchen to get some?"

"Uh… I'll go get it," she said. A few minutes later, she returned with a plate of sliced apples and grapefruit.

"Sorry for taking so long," she said.

"Uh… That was actually pretty quick. And you didn't need to—"

"I don't appreciate you treating my friend like a servant," said Alice. "You should have gone to get that for yourself."

"Actually," said Ko. "I've been asked not to let anyone in the kitchen, so I kinda had to…"

"Hmph. In any case, I don't appreciate someone so low asking my friend to do menial tasks for them," said Alice. I just decided to leave at that point to avoid further irritation on her part. I said bye to Ko, then left to wander the school since I was no longer interested in going back to my room. I managed to walk around alone for quite some time before someone found me.

"Oy, Nakauchi!"

I had walked into the Research Building, and I was under the impression that I was alone. I forgot about Kotaka's rule, so of course she'd come to stop me.

"You know you're not supposed to be alone here, right? Find a friend to walk around with or go to your room," she said.

"Okay," I said as I checked my ElectroID. Alice and Ko were in their rooms; Nezumi, Yasushi, and Tobiki were in the gym in the Recreational Building; Tougo, Jay, Irina, and Neko were in the library; and Bunpei was alone by the pool.

"Hey," I called out to Kotaka. "It looks like Furuda-kun's by himself near the pool."

"I know," said Kotaka. "I was going to check in on him next. Even though he's breaking a rule, I highly doubt he's doing something suspicious right now."

Gee. Thanks, Kotaka.

"Come with me to tell him," she said. I wouldn't want to begin an argument with her, so I complied and walked to the Rec Building with her. We actually managed to start a conversation along the way. Turns out she's into politics because everyone around her told her she'd never be able to pull off something like that and she felt the world didn't have enough female leaders, so she wanted to become one.

"Yeah," she said. "As a child, I was very introverted and quiet, so whenever I said I wanted to be like my uncle or my grandfather and get into politics, I was laughed at even by them. I spent all my time working towards my goal, and I've even managed to help resolve some of Japan's social problems while still being too young to even run for office." She smiled confidently, as if she were telling those naysayers, "Yeah, you were completely wrong." I must say, I enjoy a smiling Kotaka over a serious one.

"Congratulations," I said sincerely.

"Thanks," she replied.

"It takes lots of guts to get into something like that, let alone prove someone wrong at the same time. You must be fearless," I said. She paused for a moment.

"I'm… definitely not fearless," she said. "I'm afraid that with each passing day, I'll lose more of you guys, especially those that I've become closer to. Knowing Ying killed Yanaihara hurts very much, and I don't want to become friends with another killer or another victim, so I'm trying to prevent that as well as I can. In this situation, any other fears I may have had before seem childish and silly."

That's very admirable of her. But my curiosity's been piqued slightly. What could fearless Kotaka have been afraid of before?

"I still can't imagine you being afraid of anything," I said to her as we entered the hallway leading to the Rec Building.

"Well," she said. "I guess I can tell you this, since I doubt you'll use it against me and it doesn't bother me anymore. When I was younger, I saw my older brother playing a video game, and he was fighting a hideous green monster with orange hair. Later that night, I had a nightmare that the monster I saw his character fighting against was trying to fight me, and he used some weird electric power on me and—well, I used to be afraid of that character. I even asked to take martial arts classes if I ever needed to fight it."

Haha! I'm sorry, but that was kinda hilarious. "Hehe, that's actually kinda funny. It's hard to imagine you were afraid of a video game character," I said, and she glared at me angrily.

"I-that's not funny! It's ridiculous," she said. We walked to the top floor and opened the door opposite the karaoke area. The door led directly to the pool. There were male and female designated locker rooms on the opposite side and a set of bleachers on two opposite walls. Kotaka checked her ElectroID, then looked around.

"I don't see him," said Kotaka. "But it says he's over that way." She directed my attention to the far side of the bleachers near the boys' locker room.

"I don't see him either," I said. "Maybe he left, and there's some sort of lag going on."

"I doubt it," said Kotaka. "He's been in here for a long time before we arrived, so I'm guessing—"

"RAAAAAAAGH!"

Kotaka and I both heard a startling scream from behind us and turned around. Before us was a green mutant wearing brown shorts. Its chest and arms had hair matching the familiar orange color on its head. It began to speak.

"Hahaha! Did I—ack!"

Before it could finish its statement, Kotaka screamed and kicked it. It landed right in the pool with a large splash. Moments later, the pool water around it turned a similar color green to its skin…

"Furuda-kun, you're such an idiot," I said. He soon resurfaced. Some of the makeup remained on his skin, but a lot of it mixed in with the water.

"Wow, Kotaka-sama, that was unexpected! Nice kick," he said. Kotaka looked mortified.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING THAT MAKEUP?! WHAT THE FLYING FUCK WERE YOU TRYING TO DO?!"

Bunpei stepped out of the pool, still a dripping mess of chlorinated water and green makeup. "Well, I was kinda bored, so I asked Ko-chan to help make me look like one of my favorite video game characters. I never told her what I was planning to do, though. She did a really good job, too! As expected of a Super High School Level Makeup Artist," he said. Kotaka stared at him in confusion and irritation and sighed a tired sigh.

"Go get that makeup off of yourself. Also, you shouldn't be in the pool with your ElectroID with you," she said as if that were completely his fault.

"One, it's not like I was planning on getting in the pool," he said matter-of-factly. "Two, I actually dropped my ElectroID when I heard someone coming. I think it's over there, so no harm done," he said. He pointed in the same direction as where Kotaka and I saw his name appear.

"Nyeah, even if he did have it on him, it would've been fine," said a familiarly vexing voice. Hanneko jumped out from the pool. Oddly enough, he didn't have a single drop of water on him.

"Hanneko! What are you here for?" I asked.

"I came to talk to you kids about a couple of things. I'm tired of you bastards dirtying up the school! First you jerks didn't clean up the freaking theater after the play, and now I have to clean this pool! Gah, I swear. Teenagers are the worst. I'm glad I'm out of that phase in my life," said Hanneko.

"Anyway, clean up after yourselves! Cleaning up dead bodies is bad enough." With that, Hanneko disappeared through the bleachers.

"That was…" began Bunpei.

"… Confusing?" Kotaka finished.

"Yeah. I didn't realize we were making such a mess. Wouldn't want to piss of Hanneko further, so I guess we should start doin' what he says," said Bunpei.

Shortly after that exchange, I returned to my room out of boredom. I didn't really want to talk to anyone today, so I pretty much sat around and thought about the situation. It just dawned on me that we still have close to no idea what's going on, and we've been here for almost a week and four of us are dead. At 8:00, I was snapped back into my current reality.

"Nya, can I please have your attention? Remember what I said this morning about new plot twists and challenges? Well, those all start tomorrow at 8:00 ante meridian in the gym, so be there or beware! It's a mandatory class meeting," said Hanneko over the announcement system. "Anyway, two more hours until nighttime, so make the most of it. Later nya~"

Ugh. I hate that freaking toy. I amused myself in wondering if there would be a trial for destroying him. Just goes to show how my sense of humor's changing. Like usual, I was asleep long before the nighttime announcements were even made.

* * *

><p>I woke up at 7:30, well after the morning announcement. Why the hell am I sleeping so much? Eh. Anyway, like usual, I prepared myself for whatever ridiculous task Hanneko has for us now. As I left my room, I noticed Tobiki and Nezumi walking towards the gym together.<p>

"Good morning, Rin-chan," said Nezumi.

"Oh, hi Nakauchi-san," said Tobiki. I waved to both of them and decided to walk there with them.

"Hey, Rin-chan, what do you think's gonna happen at the meeting? I'm kinda scared," said Nezumi.

"Probably another stupid assignment," I said. I hadn't given much thought to why we were having this meeting.

"I'm kinda worried. Nothing like this has happened before. What if Hanneko has something planned to try to wipe all of us out?" I didn't like Tobiki's word choice, for some reason. "Wipe us out" made it sound like we were weak and insignificant and could be taken out easily.

"I highly doubt that," I said. "While I don't want to admit it, Hanneko's keeping us here more than likely for his own sick kicks. Killing us off at the same time isn't entertaining." Suddenly, my face stung. I turned to see a sad expression on Nezumi's face.

"Rin-chan, stop talking like that! Don't treat this like a joke! Our lives are at stake, and your claiming this as some form of 'entertainment' is horrible! It's like you're losing your humanity," said Nezumi. I hadn't expected that reaction at all. I'm not sure she sees exactly what I'm saying.

"Nezumi," I tried to say reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'm not treating this as a joke. I realize how serious the situation is, but we need to remember exactly why we're in it and fight against it. Hanneko doesn't want there to be peace among us, so he'll try to cause problems for us that'll lead to more deaths. We can't afford him the satisfaction, so we need to remember the situation." She still looked upset, but realized what I was trying to say.

"Okay," she said as we approached the gym. "Sorry about slapping you."

"It's fine," I said. We walked into the gym to see that most of the students had arrived. It looked like the only person who hadn't arrived yet was Ko. She arrived shortly after we did.

"Sorry, guys, had to fix breakfast," she said. Her voice has gotten louder.

"Nyeah, don't care," said Hanneko. He stood at the podium on the stage. "Anyway, you're all probably wondering what could be happening here. _Oh, no, is Hanneko gonna horribly massacre us? Are we being punished for trying to avoid murder and creating peace?_ Nya ha ha! Don't worry, losers. You're just getting a new assignment today! Come out, dearie~"

With that, Hanneko looked towards the left side of the stage (I guess it'd be his right) and beckoned someone with his paw. I looked around the gym. Everyone was here, and they all began to look scared. Once I realized that someone unknown came out, I began to freak out as well. As he came further, I realized that the person was… A teenage boy? He had short, light green hair that almost reached his eyes, which were a strange shade of pink. Standing on the stage, he faced us.

"Greetings, classmates," said the boy. He had a European-sounding accent. "My name is Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov. It's a pleasure to meet you all." He then bowed to us. He seemed polite, but it was easy to tell that the other students didn't trust him already.

"Go on, kid. Tell the kids about yourself, nya ha ha," said Hanneko.

"Alright," he said. "I'm a Scorpio, I'm half Russian and half Japanese and can speak and read in both languages, but I was raised mainly in Russia. I have a severe allergy to peanuts, and I like meeting new people and traveling to foreign countries. This place seemed interesting, so I've come here in search of a new adventure!" He seemed very kind and jovial, but everything about him felt suspicious. He came here in search of a new adventure? Doesn't he realize what's happening here?!

Wait… If he's a new student, then he must have come directly from the outside! Then there must be a way out of here, and he's the most likely to know. I'll have to talk to him about that.

"Is this a fucking joke?" Alice broke the silence following Luka's introduction.

"A joke? What could she mean by that?" Luka asked.

"In any case, you bastards have a new assignment! It's not mandatory, but it could prove useful. You bastards have to…" Hanneko paused (probably to create some stupid suspenseful atmosphere). "Get to know Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov! Meeting adjourned." With that, Hanneko disappeared behind the podium again. Luka just looked confused. Everyone else left after Ko decided to ask for our allergy information (poor girl's probably beating herself up over not thinking to do that earlier). After about five minutes, the only people remaining in the gym were me and Luka. He walked off the stage and towards me.

"Hello," said Luka. "I never received a schedule or a map. Just this weird cellphone-thing." He pulled his ElectroID out from his pants pocket. He powered it up.

"Hey, does this show where everyone is?" Luka asked. I looked at the screen, and he looked around on the map function. This kid is unbelievable.

"You... You have no idea what's going on here, do you?" It's as if this guy didn't realize at all what he was getting into when he came here.

"I… I guess not. Hehe, can you explain to me?" Luka said. He smiled naively. This is going to be a lot of work.

Luka and I talked for a while. I learned that he was actually admitted here as the Super High School Level Chess Player, and he had no real idea about the scholastic arena that's been created.

"So," I said. "We actually don't have to worry much about schoolwork. We just have to make sure no one tries to kill anyone and find a way out of here."

"Ah, I see. I'm sorry you guys have been stuck in this situation, and hopefully someone will come to rescue us soon," he said.

"Yeah. Until then, we need to avoid more deaths," I said.

"Alright. You can be sure that I won't kill anyone! It's against my moral code," he said. We were now in the library. I checked my ID, and it looked like Tougo and Irina were also here.

"Hey, Rin-kun's here with—" Irina began, then froze. She looked at Luka in fear. "H-hi, Lukaaa…" said Irina nervously. Her accent returned.

"Hello. Forgive me, but you look very familiar. Is your name Irina?" Luka asked her. Irina nodded.

"Pleased to meet you! I'm a big fan of your modeling work," said Luka. Irina's expression changed slightly.

"Thank you. Please excuse me," she said as she walked towards Tougo. They both began speaking in Spanish (probably about Luka), so I ignored them.

"So…" I said. "You play chess?" I can never seem to help but say something stupid and obvious, I guess.

"Haha! Yes, I do," he said.

"I think I saw a chessboard on one of the tables. Care to play?" I asked.

"Of course. But I'm not going easy on you," he said.

We both played chess for about ten minutes. I wound up winning the game.

"Uh…" I said. "Are you sure you have your title right?"

"Hm… I guess not," he said. "Well, I have always been better at composing music than playing chess. I guess I should change my title to Super High School Level Musical Composer, haha."

Wait. He can't just change his title… Can he? Oh, well. Neither one would be helpful, so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

Luka and I spent a good portion of the day together, and I noticed he wrote a lot in some sort of notebook. It was written in Russian, so I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I assumed it was a diary of some sort. Besides that, nothing really eventful happened for the rest of the day.

"I guess I've completed the assignment," I said to myself as the night announcements were made. I didn't pay any attention to them, since they were pretty much the same old announcements.

The next day, I woke up at my normal time of 7:01. We made no progress at Kotaka's morning meeting, despite the fact that we now had someone who managed to make his way inside the school. As it turns out, Luka had no idea how exactly he got in. He just knew that he was going to be attending this school. Tougo stated that was further evidence that our memories had been erased, but most people still disagreed. Of course, how was it possible for us to just let our memories be erased so easily?

After a delicious yet uneventful breakfast time, I went back to my room to avoid incurring the wrath of Kotaka. Naturally, all I had in my room with me were my thoughts, so I later decided to find someone to hang out with. Alice and Ko were both in their rooms, but everyone else seemed to be in the second or third buildings. Tougo and Luka were the only ones in the library.

The most suspicious candidate for mastermind speaking to the mysterious new transfer student? I'm not sure I trusted such an occurrence. I rushed to the Research Building and tried to sneak into the library. I seemed to have gone unnoticed as I hid behind a shelf.

* * *

><p><strong>(Author's Note: I know Rin says the conversation is spoken in Russian, but there are a couple of reasons why it's in English. One, I don't know Russian well enough to try to write such a difficult dialogue in it. Two, I absolutely refuse to use an online translator, and although it's the quickest option, I hate them. Three, my guess is most of you don't speak read Russian, so it'd be a bit trollish to have a part of this story in a language that may be harder to understand for most people than, say, Spanish. All the other parts that have been in other languages could be easily explained in context, so I figured a bit of Spanish practice on my part wouldn't hurt. I hope it doesn't turn out too weird for you guys, and sorry for my ramblings here. They'll be done… now).<strong>

* * *

><p><em> "So, why have you asked me to come here?" <em>Luka said in a language I don't understand (more than likely Russian). Luka's tone was different somehow. It sounded more… businesslike.

_"Huh? I didn't ask you to come here. But since you are here, there are a couple of things I'd like to ask you,"_ said Tougo. Of course, he knows how to speak Russian. Fucking Gary Stu.

_"Sure. Go ahead,"_ said Luka.

_ "I've heard you change what your talent is way too many times. After one change, it's easy to tell that you've been lying," _said Tougo. Luka laughed.

_ "Ah, so you're quicker to catch on than some of the other students here. Fine. Every title I've given so far has been a lie. You still don't know what I actually do,"_ said Luka.

_"Honestly, it's not too hard to figure out. In any case, why have you come here?"_ Tougo closed the book he was reading and placed it on the table.

_"Don't worry. I learned about this entire situation from Rin,"_ said Luka. Did I just hear my name? He continued. _"I've heard bits and pieces about what may be going on, but I only recently learned from him or her exactly what's happening."_

_ "So, you can't tell either."_

_ "What Rin is? Nah. But to answer an earlier question, that's not why I'm here. There are a couple of people I need to find."_

_ "Alright. Tell me this. Whose side are you on?"_

_ "According to Hanneko, that's classified information. There's a chance one of us will be killed if I tell you, and I'll try my hardest to make sure it's not me."_

_ "Okay. But don't think you aren't a suspicious character. This is probably dangerous to say, but I think you have some connection to the mastermind."_

_ "Mastermind? If that's some sort of unknown person, my guess is as good as yours. In fact, mine might be better considering how much information I've already managed to collect."_

_ "Hmph. Just remember that it's easy to make the others distrust you."_

_ "Fine, fine. On another note, I'm curious. What do you think Rin is?"_

Tougo's tone changed. To surprise, maybe? _"I don't know, and I'm not too interested in finding out," _he continued to speak in Russian_. "But my guess is that Nakauchi's a boy. I mean, at this stage in life, it seems very unlikely for a girl to be as flat-chested as Nakauchi."_ I'm not sure why, but I felt some sort of offense at those words. I kept hearing my name, so it felt like they were speaking badly of me.

"Haha!" Luka laughed. _"But still. For a boy, Rin has some slightly effeminate facial features."_

_"It's hard for me to tell,"_ Tougo says as he looked at his ElectroID. _"Speaking of the devil, it seems that we have company."_

"Haha," Luka laughed again. "You can come out now, Rin. I know you're hiding in here somewhere." He switched back to a language I can understand, and his tone regained the jovialness it had before. God damn it. Seems like I'm dealing with two clever bastards now.

"Fine. You two working on your plan to cause another murder?" I asked as I walked from behind the shelf.

"Maybe," said Tougo. I fucking hate that guy.

"So, what were you two talking about?" I asked. I knew they'd probably lie, but I'm curious to see what kind of answer I'll get.

"Not telling," said Tougo.

"We were just talking about how cute you are," said Luka. I felt the blood rush to my face.

"Are you gay or something?" I said, only slightly ignoring the fact that he was lying to me.

"That depends. Are you a boy or girl?" Luka asked.

"I-I'm not answering that," I stuttered.

"Hehe, I expected that kind of response. Well, I'm off to my room. Later, friends~" With that, Luka parted, leaving Tougo and I alone in the library.

"If it makes you feel any better," said Tougo. "I don't think you're cute."

"Shut it," I said. Soon afterward, Nezumi arrived.

"Hi, Rin-chan," said Nezumi. "Have you seen Ru-kun?"

"Ru-kun?" I asked.

"If you're referring to the transfer student, he just left the library," said Tougo.

"Oh," she said. "I wanted to talk to him."

"About what?" I asked.

"Well, about anything. It seems kinda unfair that we're isolating him when he's kinda in the same situation as us, and I really believe he doesn't know exactly how he ended up here, if Tougo-kun's memory theory is correct. Plus, we have something in common, so we can talk about that," she explained.

"Really? What would that be?" I asked.

"We're both of Russian descent! Except I'm probably less so than he is," she said. Huh. I didn't know that.

"That's interesting. It seems like a lot of people that came here are mixed or non-Japanese," I said.

"I'm not sure how that's interesting, but at least it's giving you people something to talk about," said Tougo sarcastically. Nezumi and I decided to leave after that. As usual, it was a pretty uneventful day beyond that one point.

_At least no one was killed,_ I thought to myself as I drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter Three: It's Been a Long Time

It's been about a week since Luka arrived. Most of the students seemed to have warmed up to him in that time as well. The only student who's voiced her obvious dislike of Luka is Alice, but she's been warming up to Ko a lot more, so I think she's fine (besides, better him than me). Neko, Jay, and Irina still hang out like long lost sisters; Kotaka still argues with Yasushi and reprimands Bunpei for, well, being Bunpei; Tougo still spends most of his time in the library; and Nezumi, Tobiki, and I seem to have become closer as friends. In any case, it seems we've learned to coexist here until someone tries to rescue us. Honestly, it's not that bad here when no one tries to kill someone. I was glad that our peace had gone undisturbed.

But of course, this kind of situation doesn't call for peace.

Around the time lunch ended, I noticed that Alice and Bunpei were still in the cafeteria. I overheard some of their conversation.

"Yo, Ari-chan, is everything okay?" Bunpei asked.

"Hmph. Don't call me Ari-chan like you're so familiar with me. If you want me to respond back to you, call me Alice-san or something better than that," she responded.

"Alright then… Alice-san, is everything okay? Whenever you're not with Ko-chan, it seems like you're in your room. You're not getting sick or anything, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I'm fine, so don't worry about me," said Alice with a smile. Bunpei smiled back.

"Well, that's great," said Bunpei. As she was getting ready to leave, Bunpei called out to her again.

"Wait, Alice-san," he said. "Thanks for looking out for Ko-chan! I'm glad you both have become friends."

"As am I," said Alice as she left the cafeteria. Later that day, I decided to hang out with Yasushi during one of the rare moments when he was not with Kotaka. We spent free time together, but nothing he told me about himself was nearly as substantial as one of the last things he said to me.

"Hey, Nakauchi-san," said Yasushi, looking at his ElectroID. "I can't seem to find Yamamoto-san's name anywhere…"

What? That can't be possible. "Check all three available buildings," I said to him.

"I did, but they're not showing her name anywhere," he said. Oh, no. I could feel the panic spreading across my body as he said those words.

"Come with me," I said to Yasushi. We left the minor library in the main building and ran straight towards the dorms.

"Nakauchi-san, you don't think—" began Yasushi, but I interrupted him.

"Only certain people have their names missing from the map. We need to get there quick!"

We ran past Alice, Nezumi, and Bunpei in the hallway. They all looked at us as if we were crazy.

"Hey, Rin-chan, what's going on?" Nezumi asked.

"It's Yamamoto-san! We can't find her name on the maps," I yelled back to her. We were almost to the dorms when I realized that those three were following behind us. Yasushi made it to the door first, then tried turning the knob.

"It's locked," he said. God damn it.

"Does anyone know how to pick a lock?" I asked quasi-jokingly.

"I think I can help," said Nezumi. She pulled a bobby pin out of her pocket and opened the door in an almost-stereotypical fashion. I can't believe that even worked.

Nezumi hesitantly turned the knob and opened the door. I had hoped severely that my suspicions were wrong, and that Ko had just somehow turned off the ElectroID. Naturally, I'd be wrong if I believed in such a miracle. Lying scarred and covered in bleeding cuts was Ko Yamamoto, the Super High School Level Makeup Artist.

"It's nyabout freaking time, you bastards! It's been so long since I made one of these, most of you probably forgot about them. Anyway, this is a Corpse Discovery Announcement! That's right! One of you poor bastards kicked it, and one of you sick bastards killed it. Investigation should start as soon as this announcement is over, and a while later we'll have a trial. Be sure to make the most of this time, and read the freaking crime reports I make for ya! Those take time. Good luck, nya~"

Hanneko's announcement. Then that means…

"She… She's really dead?" Bunpei asked. All I could do was nod. Bunpei punched a wall in anger.

"Ngaaaah! I can't believe I let this happen!" Bunpei yelled, clearly blaming himself for the death of Ko. Nezumi tried to console him.

"It's not your fault," said Nezumi, fighting back tears. "The only person at fault here is… the murderer." After saying "murderer," she had started crying. The others arrived soon. I counted twelve people.

"Yamamoto, huh? That's unfortunate," said Tougo.

"Is…"

Huh? I looked in the direction from which the voice came. Alice was looking downward.

"Is this what you wanted?! You stupid fucking cat! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" Alice yelled.

"Nya, what did I do?" Neko asked. Alice glared at her angrily.

"Not you, dipshit! I'm talking about that sadistic robot and the worthless filth controlling it! I hope they're really fucking happy this time, I see the point they're trying to make. They don't want me to be happy at all, do they?! Oh, Alice Darlington's making friends? Better fucking make sure we get rid of all of them and destroy every ounce of happiness she has!" Alice's face was practically pink with anger, and I could see her makeup running down her face. She ran away down the hall.

"She's in her room," said Bunpei as he checked his ElectroID. "That was pretty quick."

"Well, better stop wasting time. Who's going to stand watch?" Kotaka asked this. She looked composed, but I could hear her voice shaking.

"Let me do it, Kotaka-sama," said Bunpei. "I'll make sure no one interferes with the scene."

"Alright. Who else? We need one more person," said Kotaka.

"If it's okay with you guys, I'd like to help," volunteered Luka. Kotaka seemed leery of this.

"Fine. Make sure no one interferes with anything here," said Kotaka. It looked like she talked more to Bunpei than Luka. She then left.

"So…" said Nezumi. "Let's get to work."

"Okay," I said. The two of us (as well as Tougo) examined Ko's room for a while before one of us stumbled upon something. At this point, the only people in the room were us, Bunpei, and Luka.

"Hey," said Nezumi, looking at Ko's bed. "There's a folded-up note here." She picked up the note and opened it. I looked at it over her shoulder. I couldn't understand a single thing on it.

"Wow," I said. "Whoever wrote this note has some crappy-ass handwriting."

Nezumi laughed. "Haha! Rin-chan, this is written in Russian," she said. Luka turned to look at us, and everyone in the room looked back at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I wrote this," said Luka. Tougo pushed up his glasses.

"Oh, really?" He asked suspiciously.

"Uh… Wait just a minute! I've never been in this room before now," said Luka. "In fact, this note is out of my…"

Bunpei grabbed the collar of Luka's shirt. "Listen here, man! We don't have time to fuck around here! If you weren't in this room before, then how did that piece of paper get here?"

"Because… I have no idea," said Luka. I'm sorry to say it, but it looks like we have our prime suspect. That was fast.

Bunpei let go of Luka. "You better not be lying," he said.

"I'm not," said Luka.

While this little exchange took place, I decided to read the Monokuma File and examine the body more closely.

_The victim in this case is Ko Yamamoto, the Super High School Level Makeup Artist. Approximate time of death is 5:00 p.m._ (That was about twenty minutes before the announcement went off). _The victim was found lying on her bed, and the victim appears to have several lacerations and stab wounds on her thighs, stomach, and one deep cut on her right hand. Sound familiar, readers?_

I'm not sure exactly how that's supposed to sound familiar, but it sounded more horrible than anything. This death was obviously torturous. I can't believe there's anyone here that could have it out for Ko. She was sweet, kind, and trusting. And some asshole betrayed that trust. I found myself becoming angry, but I tried to hide those feelings. I placed my ElectroID back in one of my pants pockets, and Nezumi walked next to me.

"This room is pretty messy," said Nezumi. "I didn't expect Ko-chan to be like that."

"Neither did I," I said. "Have you noticed anything else?"

"Well, she's dressed kinda oddly. She normally wore t-shirts and pants or a long skirt, but now she's wearing a tank top and shorts," said Nezumi. She's right. She normally dresses more conservatively, but here she's showing more skin than usual. Her shirt's even been raised partially. I found myself hating the person who did this even more, for some reason.

"You're right. She probably wasn't expecting to go out if she was dressed like that," I said. "Anything else seem odd here to you?"

"So, you mean you don't see the glaring piece of evidence right in front of you?" Tougo called this to us from the door. "Look under her hand."

Huh? I looked underneath her left hand, which was somehow completely clean. He was right. There was a knife from the kitchen underneath it. It, too, was completely clean.

"This is from the kitchen," said Nezumi. "You don't think…"

"What?" I asked. "You don't think Yamamoto-san did this all to herself, do you?"

"Hm… Probably not. But why is the knife here? And how is it completely clean?"

"That could only mean that this death was murder, not suicide," I said. But why would the murderer clean the knife only to leave it there? Was he taunting us?

Nezumi went over to the other side of the bed. "Hey, there was something knocked over here," she said. She then picked up a plate that appeared to have what remains of some sort of noodle dish on it. Bunpei looked at the plate.

"Hey," he said. "I saw that in the kitchen."

"Furuda, why were you in the kitchen?" Tougo asked.

"Uh… Well, I got hungry about thirty minutes ago, so I went to the kitchen and saw something being cooked. I wasn't plannin' on killing anyone, so I figured there'd be no harm done, heh…" Bunpei said.

"Bun-kun! Why didn't you realize that was a bad idea?" Nezumi asked.

"Well…" he began. "Ko-chan was in the kitchen as well. She went back here after she got some food, though."

"Oh, really?" Tougo asked. "Fine. I'll assume you're not lying for now. I'm going to investigate elsewhere. But first… Nakauchi. Come with me outside for a moment."

"Huh? What do you want, Glasses?" I asked. He looked irritated.

"Just come here," he said. I decided to just comply. Luka, Bunpei, and Nezumi were still in Ko's room, so I could yell if there was any trouble.

"So, what do you—"

Before I could finish my question, Tougo hugged me. He pulled me closer to him in what could be confused for a caring embrace. It took a while for me to realize exactly what was happening.

_Tougo was hugging me. WHY THE HELL WAS I NOT FIGHTING BACK?!_

"Stay safe, kid," he whispered to me, then left. What… What just happened? I couldn't find my voice, for some reason. _That asshole just freaking hugged me. _

Wait… What if he's trying to mess with my head so I can't investigate properly? But why would that be messing with my head?!

"GAAAH!" I yelled. Luka came out to see if there was a problem, but went back in the room after he realized nothing was wrong.

Right. I need to go back in that room, too.

"Rin-chan, what did Tougo-kun wanna talk about?" Nezumi asked. Right. Nezumi didn't see what happened.

"Uh… I'd rather not talk about it," I said. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Right now, we need to continue investigating."

"Okay! But Rin-chan, first I want you to look around," said Nezumi. I looked around, not seeing what the point was.

"… Okay?" I said.

"Without a doubt, this was a violent murder," said Nezumi. "But despite the mess, there's no real sign of a struggle at all. It's just the knocked-over plate and the makeup trays and paints everywhere. Doesn't that seem odd?"

After doing another quick scan of the room, I realized that she was right. All that was laying around was stuff Ko would have. In fact, the only place where I saw blood was on Ko…

"You're right," I said. "That is odd…"

"Also, while you and Tougo-kun were outside, I found one more thing," said Nezumi. She then directed my attention to a piece of paper with writing on it. It said "Yamamoto Seven."

"What the hell does 'Yamamoto Seven' mean?" I asked.

"Heh. I was gonna ask you the same thing," said Nezumi. "You think it might be a clue?"

"Really, anything here is a clue," I said. "Furuda-kun."

"Yes," he replied.

"You said you found cooked food in the kitchen, right?" I asked.

"Y-yes," he said nervously. "I ate some of it, but it tasted disgusting. Not at all like how Ko-chan normally cooked. But… I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so I didn't say anything about it."

"So," said Nezumi to me. "You think we should head to the kitchen?"

"That's where I'm going with this," I said. I asked Luka and Bunpei to tell me who all came by to investigate after we left, then walked out to the hallway with Nezumi.

"It's pretty sad, isn't it?" Nezumi said to me.

"Yeah, it is," I said. "I noticed you crying earlier…"

Nezumi looked embarrassed. "Aah! I'm sorry you had to see that, Rin-chan."

"Don't apologize. But it seems like you've gotten upset at every death so far," I said.

"Well, of course I'd be upset! Our friends are being killed."

"I understand. I'm upset as well," I began. "But please… Please try not to cry anymore, even if this happens again. I… don't like seeing you so upset. It doesn't suit you at all," I tried to say sincerely.

Nezumi looked at me and blushed. I guess the sincerity thing worked. "Okay, Rin-chan! I'll try not to cry anymore," she said with a slight smile. I'm not entirely certain, but it looked forced. We continued walking towards the cafeteria when I noticed Jay walking towards the dorms.

"Hey! I didn' know you were here," said Jay to me.

"Yeah. We're on our way to the kitchen now," said Nezumi. Jay looked at her in confusion.

"Ya sure 'bout that? According to my ElectroID, Rin here's already in the kitchen," said Jay. Huh? Do the ElectroIDs predict our movements?

"Huh?" Nezumi asked. "Is it making some sort of prediction?"

"I don't think so," said Jay. "It's sayin' that you're here with and me, so maybe the system's messed up."

"That's odd," I said. I went in my pocket to get my ElectroID, but… It's gone!

"I can't find my ID! God damn it," I said.

"Nya ha ha! That's too bad, Nyakauchi!"

Unexpectedly, we heard the voice of Hanneko. The appearance of his form soon caught up. Jay's expression changed to anger, and Nezumi hid behind me.

"Rah! Stupid cat! Where did you even come from?!" Jay asked.

"Sigh, can't you kids go a day without asking me that? I'm almost certain most of you aren't old enough for that story," said Hanneko. "Anyway, loser, don't freak out. You're not gonna be punished for not having your ID right now. Good luck, bastards!" With that, he disappeared. Again.

"Ugh. I hate that thing," said Jay. "Anyway, hope ya find your ID, kid. I'm off! Later, guys!"

Jay then continued on her way to the dorms.

"Huh. I wonder why you didn't get in trouble that time," said Nezumi.

"Yeah. Thanks a bunch," I said sarcastically. Nezumi giggled, apologized, then looked at her ID one more time. At this point, we were walking into the cafeteria.

"Hey, it says that Tougo-kun's also in the kitchen right now," said Nezumi. He is? Then that means…

"That asshole!" I said angrily. I opened the door to the kitchen to find Tougo walking around and investigating the stove.

"You called?" Tougo asked. I glared at him angrily.

"Give me back my ID," I said. He sighed.

"Alright. I've already tested my theory, so I no longer need it. It's on the counter over there," he said. I went to pick it up, then opened it. Nezumi alternated looking at him and me in confusion.

"Uh… Did I miss something?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. I need to go talk to some people," said Tougo. He then left us alone in the kitchen.

"Uh… Rin-chan—"

"I'd rather not talk about it," I interrupted.

"Okay…" said Nezumi. She went to look for the knife set while I went to the stove. The kitchen looked pretty clean. The only thing out of place seemed to be the food that was cooked on the stove. I examined it closer.

"Ugh. This just smells disgusting," I said as I sniffed the contents of the pot. I noticed a piece of paper on the counter next to the stove. Nezumi must have heard the rustling of the paper.

"Did you find something?" she asked.

"Yeah…" I said, reading the sheet. "It's a recipe. I guess Yamamoto-san was trying out something new."

"That explains why it turned out so bad according to Bun-kun," said Nezumi.

"Yeah…" I noticed another list underneath the recipe. I must have missed it before. Nezumi walked towards me.

"Hey, it's the list of allergies that Yamamoto-san made," said Nezumi. "Wow. Looks like Yasu-kun and Ru-kun are both allergic to peanuts. What a coincidence."

"Do you think that has any relevance to the case?" I asked. She thought for a moment.

"Not really. But speaking of relevance, one of the knives from here is, in fact, missing," she said. Kotaka then stormed into the kitchen.

"You two! Have you solved who the culprit is?" Kotaka asked. Nezumi and I both shook our heads. Kotaka groaned.

"Fine. It's getting closer to trial time, so I had hoped that you two found something out," said Kotaka. Good to know she's not enforcing her rules right now.

"Kotaka, is everything okay?" Nezumi asked this hesitantly. "You seem mad…"

"I am mad," she said. "But not at you two. I'm—"

"Excuse me, can I have your attention please? I'm getting bored of watching you losers walk around trying to find clues and making no progress, so you have fifteen more minutes to investigate. After that time, meet in the gym. Good luck, bastards!"

I hate these kinds of announcements. I hate all of Hanneko's announcements, actually. I just hate Hanneko.

"Um, I think we can spend the rest of the time in here. The gym isn't that far away," said Nezumi.

"Yeah," I said. We combed through the kitchen once more. It looked like there was nothing more to find, but then Nezumi stumbled upon something in the cabinets. From where I was, I couldn't see it.

"Hey, Rin-chan, come here!" Nezumi waved frantically at me in an attempt to catch my attention. Silly girl.

"You already had my attention when you called my name, Mouse girl," I said. "Did you find something?"

"Yes," she said. She opened the cabinet to reveal… Nothing. All I saw were plates and bowls. Kotaka looked inside the cabinet as well.

"I don't see anything useful here, Karafuto," said Kotaka.

"Look behind the plates," said Nezumi. Kotaka asked us to move, then picked up the 14 thick glass plates that were there. She placed them on one of the counters before looking back inside. She gasped and picked something up.

"T-this is—!" Kotaka seemed too shocked to even finish her thought, and with good reason. In her hands was one of the poison containers that was in the labs.

"So, this is all my fault. I knew I should have confiscated and hidden these," said Kotaka. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Don't blame yourself," said Nezumi in an effort to console her. I read through the Monokuma File once more.

"Guys," I said. "Keep that poison container a secret."

"Why? Nakauchi, this is a substantial piece of evidence," said Kotaka.

"Yeah, Rin-chan," said Nezumi. "Don't you think we should tell the others?"

"We will," I said. "But I have a theory, and I need you guys to not mention this at all until I do. I think this might be the true cause of death."

Nezumi's face hardened, then she checked her ElectroID. "We should get to the gym. It's been close to fifteen minutes," she said.

"Okay," I said. We didn't speak on the way to the gym. It looks like we were the last to arrive. The first people I went to speak to were Bunpei and Luka.

"Furuda-kun, Luka," I said. "Do you know who else went into Yamamoto-san's room?"

"Uh… After you guys left, the cute American girl and Tougo came by," said Luka. Jeez, this guy is as bad as Bunpei. He calls way too many girls "cute."

"Also, Kotaka-sama and Yasu came by with Tobi," said Bunpei. "I don't know about the others, but when I checked in on Alice-san, she seemed to stay in her room the entire time. She's probably really upset about Ko-chan."

"I know," I said. "We all are."

"Nyalright, is everynyan here?" Hanneko stood by the podium and looked around.

"Looks like it. Step on the logo." With that, Hanneko disappeared back into the curtains, and the logo descended again. I went back over the clues, but only one of them pointed to a possible culprit. While I don't want to believe it, Luka's currently the most suspicious. Even then, the evidence isn't too substantial. Oh, well. We're almost there, and we'll see how this goes.


	13. Chapter Three: Class Trial Three!

**Author's Note: Hello, readers! Here is the chapter that should have been out on Tuesday, but my disorganization has led to it being released today, three days late. I'm still debating whether I'll post two chapters today, but I hope this installment isn't too horrible for you ._. If you're working to try to solve who did it, good luck! There are a few stupid twists regarding that in this chapter. Enjoy~**

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.

-Francis Bacon

We arrived at the courtroom, which was decorated with trees covered in colorful strips of paper. It kinda reminded me of a July holiday, but why is it holiday themed? Is it July already?

"Tanabata, huh?" Tobiki said. "Does this have anything to do with the case?"

"Maybe, nya ha ha!" Hanneko said. He then sat on his throne and began to make his introduction.

"Nya~ It's time for another class trial! Your objective is to figure out who coldly and boldly murdered Ko Nyamamoto, the Super High School Level Makeup Artist! Get it wrong, and you all will be punished while the culprit walks free! Get it right, and I'll spare your lives and condemn another one of your friends to death!"

"No pressure, right?" I said sarcastically. Hanneko ignored my comment.

"The class trial will staaaaart… NYAO!"

"Okay, let's go over what we know," said Kotaka. "And I hope we'll be able to figure out more than we were last time."

"That seems like a waste of time," said Alice. "Clearly the most suspicious one is that shady new guy!"

Tougo sighed. "Alice, you do this at every trial. We need to take this seriously and figure out who did it using the clues we found."

"Oh, come on! He reeks of suspiciousness—he even left incriminating evidence at the crime scene!" Alice shouted. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she turned to Luka. "Just admit you did it!"

Luka became nervous. "Hey, wait, that wasn't even—"

"Enough," I said.

"Hey, wait," said Nezumi. "Do you think it'd be helpful to know what the note says?"

"But it's written in Russian," said Alice. "The only one who could read it would be the new guy—"

"You've got that wrong," I said. "I'm sure there's at least one other person here that could tell us what it says."

"Oh, you must mean Hanai-kun," said Yasushi. Tougo looked away from us.

"Actually…" Tougo seemed embarrassed. "I can't read any of the Cyrillic scripts. Anything that isn't Asiatic or written in the Latin alphabet is harder for me to learn…"

"Haha! That's understandable. I've heard from many people around the world that my language is hard to learn," said Luka.

"This isn't a time for laughing," said Bunpei. "Now we don't have anyone that can read the note!"

"Yeah. So much for that 'Super High School Level Interpreter' title," I said mockingly. Tougo glared at me.

"My talents primarily involve speaking," said Tougo. "If it had more to do with reading, I'd be the Super High School Level Translator."

"But what you do involves reading."

"That's just a hobby for me."

"Nya, kimi-tachi! We've got a more important argument going on here," said Neko. As much as I hate to admit it, she's right.

"Sorry," I said.

"Anyway, there's someone here besides Tougo that could read Russian," said Luka. Oh, right! How could I forget that?

"You're right," I said. "Nezumi, do you know how to read this?"

Nezumi looked at the note. "I can pick out a few of the words," she said. "_It's my first day at this school. The students don't seem to trust me. There is one that spoke to me… Rin… played chess together… Day two… suspicions are correct… the infamous thief is here… The mouse is stuck in a cage…"_

A look of horror crossed Nezumi's face. "This…" Nezumi began. "There's… nothing to do with this case here," she said.

"See? Now, can I have that note back? I've been looking for it since the evening of my second day here, and it's pretty important," Luka said impatiently.

"But we might need to refer to it later," said Tobiki.

"Heheh, I really don't think we need it anymore," said Luka.

"What? Is that some sort of personal diary or something?" Jay asked.

"Hehe… You could say that," he replied.

"It's not like most of us could read it," said Tougo. He sounded almost mocking. "Why not let her have it until the end of the trial?"

"Heh, well…" Luka trailed off.

"Certainly a Super High School Level Chess Player shouldn't be afraid of one simple diary page going missing," said Tougo.

"Huh?" Irina said. "I heard from him that he was the Super High School Level Musical Composer."

"That can't be right," said Tobiki. "He told me he was a Super High School Level Ballet Dancer."

"But… I thought… Isn't he a figure skater?" Bunpei asked.

"Kotaka and I heard that he was a Super High School Level Communist," said Jay.

"Okay, I think I know where this is going," I said. "Luka, you're keeping your true talent a secret." Luka looked at me incredulously.

"Me? Keeping secret? Haha, I'm not keeping any more secrets than you," said Luka.

"Yet another lie," Tougo sighed. "Mr. Kamishiro-Ivanov, at this point you should just tell us what you really are."

"Allow me," said Hanneko. "Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov is the Super High School Spy~"

Everyone gasped. Luka's eyes darted across the room, then he sighed in defeat. "Haha," he said. "What a clever bunch of kids. You were correct in not initially trusting me." Did… did his attitude just change?

"Anyway, now that that's done with, can we get on with the actual trial here?" Hanneko asked impatiently.

"He's right," said Kotaka. "We still don't have any major leads as to who the culprit may be. There may be clues in the crime scene."

"There _are_ clues in the crime scene," said Nezumi. "Besides the note, there's the fact that Yamamoto-san's room was a total mess, which would indicate a fight, but there's no real signs on her body saying that she tried to fight someone off."

"Nezumi's right. Even though she seems very pacifistic, I think even Ko would fight off somebody trying to kill her," said Jay. She leaned on her podium, and I noticed a pink spot on her sleeve. It looks kinda like…

"In fact," continued Jay. "With how the body looked, it almost looked like she _let_ them stab her."

"Speaking of the body," I began. "She was dressed in a tank top and athletic shorts when we found her. That seems weird doesn't it?"

"Yeah," said Bunpei. "Even when I saw her in the kitchen before she died, she was wearing a really baggy t-shirt and baggy jeans." Huh?

"Baggy, you said?" I asked.

"Yeah. Not at all how she was dressed when we got to her room," he said.

"Whoa, wait a second. You saw her before she died?" Tobiki asked.

"Yeah. There wasn't anything wrong with her, looked like," he said.

"But you mentioned the clothes were baggy. Or, at least enough so for you to notice it and point that out," said Tobiki. "That has to mean something."

"It does. Ko Yamamoto was hiding something," said Tougo.

"Like what?" Kotaka asked.

"I'm not sure yet," said Tougo as he adjusted his glasses. "But, from looking around in the kitchen, I think I have an idea. Jay, you went by the crime scene, correct?"

Jay seemed surprised for a second, but she nodded in agreement. "Yes, I did. There were a lotta makeup trays and paints lyin' around—many of them were from my company, which I found flatterin'—but in any case, something about them seemed abnormal."

"Alright, keep that in mind. Karafuto and Nakauchi, you two also noticed something," said Tougo.

"Yeah… Nezumi saw that one of the knives went missing again," I began.

"Yeah… That one… definitely from the kitchen…" Nezumi said. She seemed out of it somehow. Unfortunately, I can't worry about that now.

"Tougo... you don't think…" began Irina.

"I'm not sure yet. But it's beginning to look more like Yamamoto stabbed herself to death," said Tougo. Everyone gasped… again.

"So then… she would be—" began Yasushi.

"You've got that wrong… I think," I said. "Sugihara-kun. Glasses neglected to say that the knife was completely clean. No blood was on it at all."

"So… what you're saying is that the killer—whoever it may be—stabbed her, took and cleaned the knife, then put it back under her hand?" Luka asked. "That seems almost mocking. It sounds like the killer's daring you to figure out his identity."

"But…" said Tobiki. "The only person allowed into the kitchen was her… No one else could have gone in."

"Unfortunately, not everyone here follows the rules," said Kotaka. "Furuda, you said you saw Ko in the kitchen earlier. What exactly were you doing there?"

Bunpei looked slightly surprised. "I… well… I got hungry, and—wait, are you accusing me of killing her?! I damn sure didn't kill her! Why would I want to murder Ko-chan?!" He seemed to be getting more angry.

"Bun-kun, please calm down," said Nezumi.

"I… I'm sorry," he said. "I just got a bit offended. But I promise I'm not the culprit."

"Sorry, but we can't trust anyone just yet," said Kotaka.

"In any case, we need to—wait!" Nezumi shouted. "I just realized something! It could change the course of the entire case!"

"Huh? What could that be?" Alice asked.

"Alice-san, you remember. When we got to Yamamoto-san's room, her door was completely locked!"

"So—that makes this…" Tougo looked slightly panicked. Now I'm worried.

"God damn it," I said. "This is a locked room murder case!" I hate those so much. It only makes the cases in mystery novels more complicated.

"Ay, dios mio! We'll never be able to figure it out!" Irina shouted in panic.

"Yes, we will. It may be harder, but we'll still be able to solve this case," I said. "In locked room cases, either the culprit is hidden in the room somewhere, or the locking method was created to work from the outside."

"But there was no one in Yamamoto-san's room when we went there," said Yasushi. "Everyone came from other places in the school. I think we'd notice if there was someone who came out from hiding in a closet."

"Yeah, and there wasn't anything like string or tape that could lock the door from the outside," said Nezumi.

"But… If it's a locked room case, and no one came from inside the room… Then it's not completely impossible that she committed suicide," said Tobiki.

"But she had no reason to," said Bunpei. "I noticed that she started to seem happier here. She was speaking out more, and she seemed less uncomfortable around us. Despite the situation, she was still so nice and positive…"

Wow. I can tell that he really misses her. "I agree with Furuda-kun," I said. "I can't say for certain that Yamamoto-san's death was a suicide. We still need to go over all the clues."

"Okay," said Tougo. "We know that before she died, she was spotted in the kitchen, which had some weird noodle stuff cooking. At the scene, Furuda mentioned that Yamamoto was wearing really baggy clothing. When we saw her at the scene, she was dressed in a less conservative outfit, indicating that she probably wasn't planning on going back out. According to the Monokuma File, she died at around five. Wounds were found on her legs, stomach, and on her right hand, and there was a completely clean kitchen knife at the scene."

"Hey, Tougo-kun," said Nezumi. "There was also a fallen plate of food on the opposite side of her bed and a piece of paper that said 'Yamamoto Seven.' Also, Rin-chan, I think we should mention it now…"

"Mention the other clue we found in the kitchen, you mean?" I asked.

"Fine then. While we were in the kitchen looking around, Karafuto found a bottle of poison," said Kotaka.

"Aagh! But… does that have anything to do with this case?" Irina asked.

"What? Where could you have found it?" Tougo asked Nezumi accusingly.

"It was behind the plates," she replied. "I think the killer didn't want any of us to notice it, so he hid it behind them. He might have been rushed, since Yamamoto-san could have gone to the kitchen at any time. It was getting closer to dinner time…"

"Yeah. I asked these two to keep quiet about it, just in case the culprit made a slip up," I said.

"Nakauchi, that might be really crucial evidence. Don't you think the killer would be more careful than that?" Tougo asked condescendingly.

"Heh, I can dream, can't I?" I said.

"Agh! This case is getting more complicated," said Bunpei. "If she poisoned herself, then why is she covered in stab wounds?!"

"While I think she may have been poisoned, I still don't think she did it to herself," I said. "If she did, why would she bother with all the cutting?"

Jay gasped. "I think I may have an answer to that!"

"Well, go on. Tell us," said Tougo as if he already figured out her answer.

"Remember how I mentioned the makeup trays earlier? This may be a crazy idea, but I think that those wounds were self-inflicted, but not how some of you think. I think those wounds were makeup," she said.

"That somehow makes a lot of sense and no sense at the same time," said Neko. "Why would Ko-tan want to make some wounds and cover herself in them?"

"Well… Yamamoto-san was pretty enthusiastic about makeup," I said. "She even helped Furuda-kun dress up like a monster from a video game. Maybe the killer asked her to show them if she could make wounds like those."

"Hold up," said Tougo. "We need to confirm if the scars were in fact, makeup. Hanneko."

"Nya, what?" Hanneko asked.

"Can someone go check to see if Yamamoto's scars are real?"

"Nya, why should I let you do that? You should have done that before the trial started, nya," said Hanneko. Bunpei sighed.

"So, it looks like we have no way to know, huh?" Bunpei sighed again.

"Wait," I said. "There is a way. I noticed something about a person that went to investigate the crime scene."

"Really? Tell us, Rin," said Luka.

"Jay," I said. "I couldn't help but notice that you have a pink stain on your jacket sleeve."

Jay looked at me, then looked at both of her sleeves. Her eyes widened when she saw it. "Oh, yeah," she said. "I accidentally brushed against her at one point." She sniffed her sleeve. "Doesn' smell like blood. Smells like… powder?" She then touched the stain with her fingers. "Yep, that's not blood," she confirmed. "But boo. I liked this jacket."

"I can confirm that she did accidentally touch the body," said Luka.

"So… then that means…" Nezumi began.

"Right," I said. "Stabbing was not the cause of death."

"But… things still don't make any sense. How did Ko-tan even get poisoned?" Neko asked. "Wait, it's got to be in the food she ate-desu!"

"You've got that wrong," I said. "That's impossible. Furuda-kun also ate the same thing that she did, but he's still healthy."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's right," said Bunpei.

"Ah, silly me! I guess the poisoning idea is wrong then," said Neko. Why do I feel like she knows something?

"Wait. It might not be wrong," said Tobiki. "If it's right, it explains how she could be killed from within her room if no one else was there. But why would she do that?"

Tobiki's got a point. If this was a suicide, why would Ko be making so many riddles for us? The scars and the poison and the food… it doesn't add up!

"So… so far the most suspicious people are Furuda, Luka, and Ko herself," said Kotaka.

"Wait," said Nezumi. "Bun-kun has an alibi. I went to see him in the cafeteria after he got food. He was trying to eat all of it, but his face looked kinda… sad. Anyway, I saw him a few minutes before five. The file says she died around 5, so it's not possible at all for him to have… wait…"

"We already established that the poison was placed somewhere beforehand," said Tougo.

"Then… I guess Bun-kun doesn't have an alibi…" Nezumi said.

"But… I couldn't have—"

"That's enough, you big brute!" Alice shouted. "If you did it, then own up to the fact that you committed a crime and deserve to be punished! Stop torturing us like this! You should be ashamed that you took Ko away from me—I mean us. I hate people like you."

"But… I didn't…" Bunpei bowed his head and let his hair fall in front of his eyes. I don't want to believe it, but… There's got to be something else to this case! We don't have enough evidence…

The others looked at Bunpei in disbelief and disappointment. Well, except one person. She just laughed.

"Hehehe~" Neko said. Kotaka turned to her.

"Do you really think this is the time to laugh?" Kotaka asked. Neko just smiled her stupid smile at Kotaka.

"Gomen, Taka-chan," said Neko. "But I just realized something. I think I might know who the culprit is~"

"Hold on. We can't go making baseless accusations," said Yasushi.

"Then what are we doing now?" Neko replied smartly. Yasushi (for once) looked slightly annoyed.

"But first, I have some questions," she continued. "Who guarded the scene again?"

"That was me and Luka," Bunpei said.

"Okay! Do you remember who came in to the room throughout the investigation?" Neko asked.

"Uh… Rin-chama, Nezumi-chan, Tougo-kun, Kotaka-sama, Yasu, Tobi, and Jay came by," said Bunpei. "Luka, was that everybody?"

"I think so," said Luka.

"Neko, what are you getting at?" Kotaka asked.

"It's Neko-_chan_," she said. "And I'm not sure~" The others groaned and looked angrily at her.

"I just have one more question," said Neko. "Does anyone remember what happened at the beginning of this trial?"

The beginning? How is any of that relevant? I probably shouldn't think too much about what she's saying.

Wait… The beginning of the trial… and Neko's questions…

"Neko," I said. "You know who did it, don't you?"

She giggled. "I might, Rin-tan~"

"Then tell us!" Kotaka yelled. "Quit beating around the bush!"

"Alright," I said. "I think she's referring to something someone said early on…"

I thought for a while.

_"Get it right, and I'll spare your lives and condemn another one of your friends to death!"_

_ "We need to take this seriously and figure out who did it using the clues we found."_

_"Oh, come on! He reeks of suspiciousness—he even left incriminating evidence at the crime scene!"_

"I have a suspect!" I exclaimed for no real reason. Everyone turned to look at me in expectance.

"AAGH! Just spit it out!" Bunpei shouted.

"I suspect… You! Miss Alice Darlington!" I said as I pointed at Alice.

Man, if looks could kill. Alice glared at me with a fierce and almost intimidating intensity.

"What was that, Nakauchi?" Alice asked accusingly.

"Alice," I said. "How did you know about the note Luka wrote that was at the crime scene?"

"I… I never used the word 'note' at all," she said defensively.

"Actually," began Tougo. "You already indicated that you knew about its existence. You gave away quite a few details, now that I think about it."

"H-how?!" Alice said.

"Tougo-kun's right," said Nezumi. "You never investigated the room at all, so how did you know that Luka's note was there and that it was written in Russian?"

"I… someone mentioned it to me… I forgot who," she said.

"Uh… but the only five people who knew about it before the trial were Nezumi, Tougo, Rin, Bunpei, and me, and I think Nezumi took it with her. Did any of you mention it after you left the room?" Luka asked.

"I most certainly did not," said Tougo.

"I didn't really even think much about it after I saw it there," said Nezumi.

"I didn't," said Bunpei.

"I don't think I did either," I said.

"And I guess it goes without saying that I didn't talk about it again," laughed Luka.

"Wait," said Bunpei. "We can't just go accusing her. Since Ying passed, I've been checking in on Alice-san. She hardly ever leaves her room. There's no way she could have even gone to find poison or anything without me noticing."

"I'm sorry, Furuda, but you've got that wrong," said Tougo. Did that asshole really just steal my catchphrase?

"But… Any way you think about it, it's impossible, man," said Bunpei dejectedly.

"Not necessarily," said Tougo. "Nakauchi, help me out here."

Why me? I tried to think back to earlier…

"Oh, right," I said. "During the investigation, I… I let Glasses borrow my ElectroID for a while. While I was in Yamamoto-san's room investigating, Glasses went to the kitchen to investigate. The other IDs registered that I was in the kitchen as well. I'm guessing that means that the ElectroIDs act to keep track of us, which explains why we can always look to see someone's exact location." Yeah, I lied about the hug. Sue me.

"Wow, it took you losers that long to figure it out? It's not like it's rocket science," said Hanneko mockingly.

"Yes. I am ashamed that it took me so long to figure it out, but there's at least one clever student who figured it out before the rest of us. Isn't that right, Alice?" Tougo asked.

"I—I didn't even _know_ that," said Alice. "Even if I did, I'd still be breaking a rule! Do you think I'd _really_ want to get killed?"

"She's right," said Hanneko. "Not having your ID on nya is against the rules. But…" He smiled evilly. "I _might_ make an exception if it means something exciting might happen, nya ha ha!"

"I—He's trying to mess with us! Do you really trust his word over mine?" Alice asked pleadingly. I'm not sure I should be the one to say it, since she obviously hates me, but I'm not sure I trust those words at all.

"Alice," said Kotaka. "Did you kill Ko?"

"I… TO HELL WITH THIS! There's no way I could have done that," said Alice. "Ko was my friend! Why would I want to kill her? WHY WOULD YOU ACCUSE MEEEE?!"

"That's enough," said Tougo. "Did you kill her or not?"

Alice glared angrily with tears in her eyes. Even though she's seeming more suspicious, I'm starting to feel kinda sorry for her.

"Wait," said Yasushi. "Even if Yamamoto-san and Alice-san were friends, I don't think Yamamoto-san would be so willing to take poison from her."

God damn it. We still haven't figured out how Ko could have been poisoned. There's still a huge hole in that theory.

"You're concentrating too much on one thing, Nakauchi," said Tougo. "It is still very possible that Yamamoto was poisoned without Furuda being poisoned."

"How?" Nezumi asked.

"Yeah, HOW?! DO I LOOK LIKE A FUCKING MAGICIAN TO YOU?!" Alice yelled.

"No, you don't," I said. But that is clever, however she did it.

"Furuda," said Kotaka. "Are you sure there's nothing else odd about when you met Ko in the kitchen?"

"No," said Bunpei solemnly. "She looked at me when I walked in, decided it'd be fine since she was also there, she picked up the second plate down like she normally does, then she fixed her meal and left. Nothing odd besides those baggy clothes."

"There is something odd," said Tougo. "You just dismissed it."

Huh? What's he… Oh, my god.

"Alice," I said. "I know how you could have done it."

Alice's expression changed to incredulity. "That—there's no way—"

"Oh! I know how," said Tobiki. "I remember a long time ago, I asked Yamamoto-san why she didn't pick the first plate. She had a habit of picking the second plate down, she said. I can't really speak for all of us, but I think a bunch of us knew she had that habit."

"Wakabayashi-kun's right," I said. "You put poison on the second plate down, didn't you?"

"I… I… I… I NEVER EVEN CONFESSED TO DOING IT! THIS ENTIRE SITUATION IS BULLSHIT! YOU ASSHOLES JUST KEEP TRYING TO PIN IT ON ME!" Alice yelled at all of us, and some of the students seemed scared. Alice's face changed back to its normal falsely sweet expression.

"Fine, Nakauchi," she said calmly. "If you're so certain I did it, I have just one question. How?"

How is right. I can't really say for certain exactly how, but I'll try to come up with something.

"Alice, let's make a deal," I said. "If I can figure out how you really pulled it off, then will you please stay calm and tell us whether you did it or not?"

"But of course, Nakauchi," said Alice with a smile. "But you're just wasting all our time, because I didn't do it."

"We'll see about that," I said.

"Several days ago, a few before Luka even came here, we held an emergency meeting in the afternoon after the poisons were discovered and Ido-san banned us from going in that lab. During that meeting, you stormed out of the cafeteria angrily after Yamamoto-san realized you had been crying about Yanaihara-kun's Dying Message to you. Ido-san told us to leave you alone, and we assumed you probably went to your room. I guess that assumption was incorrect, since that was the perfect opportunity for you to go see why a certain room was banned.

In the lab, you probably explored, much like a certain curious girl from another story. After finding the poisons, you decided to take one and left before you could get caught. While you were considering exactly what to do with the poison—and why wouldn't you, since that's a pretty big secret to have when you're stuck in a school where you're forced to kill someone to get out—poor unfortunate Luka arrived here. He automatically becomes the most suspicious person here, so it'd be pretty easy to pin a crime that would happen on him.

On Luka's second day here, he met with Glasses some time during the day. For a spy, Luka's not really good at making sure he's not being spied on. You somehow got him to leave his room that day, snuck in, and took that paper from some sort of journal, which explains why that page isn't finished for the day. Meanwhile, you and Yamamoto-san were becoming closer and closer friends. She began to trust you a lot more as the days went on. During that time you probably decided to kill her. I'm not sure how you felt about her, but it'd probably be less likely that we'd try to pin you to a crime involving the death of an alleged friend.

I think it's safe to say that Yamamoto-san would probably let someone in the kitchen secretly if she trusted them enough. No offense to her, but she was a bit of a pushover. My guess is that you asked her if you could try cooking something and have her test it out. Yamamoto-san really enjoyed having you as a friend, and she wouldn't want to upset you. I'm not sure about before, but I think you definitely left your ElectroID in your room today. Admittedly, I can't figure out the motive behind Yamamoto-san covering herself in makeup, but when she realized that you had finished with what you made, she still had the makeup on her. To hide the makeup without messing it up too badly and having to start over, Yamamoto-san wore those baggy clothes over the tank top and shorts when she left her room.

But while you were in there, you took the opportunity to make sure she would get the poisoned plate. Unsuspectingly, Yamamoto-san took it and placed the food on it. Bunpei was just lucky he didn't get it, really. Since you relied on habits Yamamoto-san has, you probably anticipated she'd go back to her room and lock her door. There, she changed out of the baggy clothes and sat on her bed, and met her fate only to be discovered covered in 'scars.'"

Alice squinted her eyes at me and smiled. "That theory has too many holes," she said. "You never addressed where the knife came from or why there was a note saying 'Yamamoto Seven' on it. Nice try, but it looks like you're wrong here."

She's right. It's not possible to say that Alice put the knife under Ko's hand after she died. And it doesn't make sense to say that Ko took the knife herself…

"Actually, since you brought up 'Yamamoto Seven,' Alice," said Tougo. "That does seem like a name, doesn't it?"

Yamamoto Seven? Uh… In kanji, seven could be read as "shichi" or "nana"… Nana Yamamoto?

"I do wonder," he continued. "Is there anyone here that could actually be called 'Nana Yamamoto?'"

Alice's face remained almost unchanging, save for an eye twitch that I noticed.

"That… Who says that's not Neko's name?" Alice asked.

"Nuh-uh. My name is Neko-chan Kawaii," said Neko.

"That's an obviously fake name," said Alice. "Where's the proof that she didn't do it?"

"I admit, that is a horribly fake name," said Tougo. "But are you sure that someone who goes by the name 'Alice Darlington' could complain about someone using fake names?"

"In any case, there's no way for you to prove that my name isn't Alice," said Alice. She… might be right… The only other person who might have known her name was Ko…

"Nya ha ha! She's right. There's no way for you losers to figure it out," said Hanneko. "Absolutely none."

"Is that so?" Kotaka asked.

"Well… since you figured it out, there _might_ be one way to know, if she has it with her," said Hanneko. I can't believe he gave that away so easily.

"Alice," said Tougo. "If you've got nothing to hide, then may I please see your ElectroID?"

"…" Alice froze. Her face maintained a stoic expression.

"Well?" Bunpei asked.

"…"

"We haven't got all day," said Luka politely. Not sure how, but he did.

"Let me tell you a story," said Alice.

"Um… I don't think that—" Nezumi began, but she was cut off by Alice.

"No, no. You guys have had your chances to speak, so it's only polite to let me have mine," said Alice.

"Once upon a time, one July seventh, there was a child born into the Yamamoto family. She was unbelievably plain, boring, and unremarkable. Even her name was something that was to be made fun of. This girl grew up without friends, a good fashion sense, or any interesting talents. People ignored her, and she was horribly clumsy. Now, who does it sound like I'm describing?" Alice paused and looked around.

"You'd probably guess that it was Ko Yamamoto, huh? Well, this girl born into the Yamamoto family hated how plain she was. She despised plainness and boringness and hated that people just as plain as her were still able to make friends. She wanted to be able to stand out. One day, she discovered a style that seemed to suit her well. Since her name didn't fit at all and was one part average and one part fucking stupid, she changed it" said Alice.

"But Nana's a pretty cute name," said Jay.

"My name's not pronounced 'Nana,'" said Alice. "Remember when I said I was born?"

July 7th. There's a holiday on that day…

"Tanabata's on that day," said Tobiki.

"Correct," said Alice. "The parents wanted her to have a name related to her birthday, so they named her Tana. They couldn't think of something more interesting like 'Orihime' or 'Hoshiko' or even 'July' to name her. Nope. They called her Tana. And once she changed her style, she realized such a name didn't suit her. And it's a good thing, since her new name added to her popularity."

Alice sighed. "Her real name is Tana Yamamoto, Super High School Level Boring, Lonely Girl. Naturally, she'd love and cherish anyone that became her friend after fifteen long years with no friends right? And of course, she'd want to escape the place where one of her friends would die. Right? It'd be easy to take advantage of someone plain, boring, and ugly like her, right? Why should such an ugly girl be able to capture the attention of the likes of athletes or politicians and boring, normal people?"

"Simple," said Bunpei. "Ko-chan wasn't ugly or plain or boring. She tried her hardest to treat everyone equally and be nice to us. It's a shame you didn't realize that about her."

"You're right," said Alice. Or… Tana. "Such a shame Tana didn't realize it'd lead to her downfall at the hands of someone even uglier and more boring than her victim and even herself. Tana thought about killing this person, but dismissed the idea when she realized that she'd be too obvious as a culprit, and when this ugliest, boringest person ever decided to leave its room, it was always around other people. Tana's good, but she's not that clever."

"Well, I'm flattered," I said.

"In any case, Ko Yamamoto reminded Tana too much of herself. It bothered Tana, so Tana decided to get rid of her," said Tana. "It was almost too easy to earn her trust, really. I guess that's what guilt does to you."

"Wait," said Irina. "It seems like most things have been explained except the knife and fake scars."

"Oh," said Tana. "My dear darling child was actually a surprisingly big prankster. Proposing a prank idea to her on one random day didn't seem too out of place, considering. She got the knife herself. Unfortunately for her, she didn't suspect a thing. Guess you didn't know that much about her, huh, Furuda?"

Bunpei's face turned red. I couldn't tell if it was out of embarrassment or anger.

"Anyway, I guess at this point, even if I plead innocence, you'll vote me as the culprit. Come on, let's get this over with," said Tana.

"Alright! It sounds like you assholes are finally done deliberating! Cast your ballots now! Will you be right, or will you be completely and horribly wrong?" Hanneko spun around on one of his hind legs after saying this.

But… Are we sure? Tana wouldn't benefit from acting so suspiciously, so I guess we'd have no other choice…

"Okaaaay~ All of you ballots are cast, and you are… CORRECT! Alice Darlington—I mean, Tana Yamamoto is the cold-hearted girl who murdered another one of her friends! Now, it's time to begin the punishment! But first, any last words, Tana-chan?" Hanneko smiled at Tana.

"Yes, actually," said Tana. "To the inevitable next culprit: good luck~ I hope you make it out~" With that, Hanneko took Tana away through those creepy doors. The same screen from last time lowered and caught our attention.

The scene depicted was of a field. A river that led to the heavens on its opposite side formed. Tana was on the side of the field, dressed in traditional royal clothing. For some reason, she had short black hair here. On the side of the heavens, there was a person with shoulder-length brown hair, facing away from Tana.

"Is that… Yanaihara-kun?"

"It looks kinda like Yamamoto, but it's impossible to tell if they don't turn around…"

Hanneko stood behind Tana, also dressed in an unfitting traditional outfit. Tana walked to the edge of the river, then stood and looked down into it. She looked back up to the person facing away from her, and as she did this, thousands of birds appeared to form a bridge across the river. Tana slowly stepped on them, and as she got more comfortable walking across them, the water in the river receded lower and lower and the day seemed to gradually turn into night. By the time she was three quarters across the bridge, the water wasn't even visible from where we were. Just as she had reached the last small portion of the bridge, an explosion was set off, scaring the birds and causing them to fly away, starting from the side of the field and quickly reaching Tana's feet. She fell into the canyon, and it was uncertain whether she drowned or died from her body crushing against the ground. The camera panned to the cause of the explosion; Hanneko had set off some fireworks that managed to form the words "Make a Wish" in English.

Hanneko returned from the punishment, a devious smile on his face.

"Nyahoo!" Hanneko said. "Man, that was fun! I was kinda hoping you guys would get the culprit just so I could use that punishment. Wow. Much poetic. Very story. Such tear."

"So, a proclaimed symbol of despair decided to side with hope?" Kotaka glared at Hanneko, who stayed silent at the realization.

"Why not?" Hanneko said finally. "Hope can't exist without despair, and despair can't exist without hope. This small shred of hope for me will lead to a huge despairing expense for you bastards! Anyway, the logo's ascending, so hop on if you don't want to be stuck here until the next execution!"

Hanneko hopped away, and the logo began to ascend just as he said. I was stuck in my thoughts.

_Why is this hope vs. despair thing still going? Am I becoming desensitized to the deaths of my friends? I don't want to become complacent here! I made a promise after the first trial that I intend to keep. But I'm doing nothing to keep that promise…_


	14. Chapter Three: Senseless Plot Twist Two!

**Author's Note: Hello, guys! So, this is the last chapter that'll be posted for a while (probably a month), which is why it's so long. Here you have it! The final part to Chapter Three! I hope you don't hate how it plays out too much, and join me again in late April or early May for the last half of this story! :D**

Despair often breeds disease.

-Sophocles

The trial has ended. We're all standing in the gym, waiting for someone to make the first move to leave.

"Listen up, you all," said Kotaka. "With this trial, we've lost two more of our classmates. By now, we've all lost someone we once thought of as a friend, love interest, or just an interesting person. We've all been betrayed and lied to. At this point, we must all remain level-headed and maintain peace."

"Huhuhu," giggled a female voice. I turned to see Irina. Her usual pretty face was twisted into a maniacal smile. "Huhuhuhuhuhu~" she continued. Everyone turned to her in shock. Most of us stayed silent.

"Oy, Irina! This isn't a time for laughter," said Kotaka. Irina continued to laugh.

"If this isn't the time to laugh, you should stop trying to make me laugh, white-haired politician girl," said Irina. Kotaka looked offended.

"Excuse me?" Kotaka glared at Irina in annoyance.

"Irina-san, this really isn't-" began Yasushi, but of course, he was cut off.

"Huhuhu~ How lucky you are, politician," said Irina. "You still have something to believe in. Despite the fact that you've done nothing to prevent any one else from dying, you can still hold on to a fleeting notion of hope. You've lost two people close to you, but still find the courage to stand before us and put on a brave face. Even if it's solely because of the handsome man that's always standing by your side, I envy you~"

Kotaka, for a change, appeared too surprised to speak.

"Wait, Irina," said Jay. "What's gotten into you? This isn't like you at all!"

"Huhuhu~ In case you haven't realized, nothing here is as it seems. The person you call a friend could be plotting your death. The supposed fighter for justice could be out only to save his own skin. The silly play that shouldn't have meant anything to anyone could be the death of someone, and some poor, innocent girl could be caught in the middle, unsuspectingly acting according to a culprit's devious escape plot," said Irina. "This isn't a place we should all be in. But the entire situation... it's laughable, isn't it?"

"Such scary words," said Luka.

"That reminds me," said Irina. "This school is supposedly inescapable and impenetrable. Tell me, spy. How did you get in, and why are you here?"

"That's actually a good question," said Bunpei. "Go on, tell us the truth. I'm not taking any bullshit for an answer."

"Don't entertain that notion right now," said Tougo. "As much as I don't want to say it, Irina's not in her right mind right now. It'll only add more suspicion that we don't need."

Bunpei turned to acknowledge Tougo. "What? Luka is clearly the most suspicious person here! Figuring out why he's even here could help us get out. He must have some connection to the mastermind."

"Actually," said Luka. "I don't know who the mastermind is, either."

"Lies!" Bunpei shouted. "Just spill it, asshole! If you're Mr. Super High School Level Spy, you should have been able to figure out who it is, even if you didn't know!"

"It's all true. I'm not sure who the mastermind is, and that isn't my concern in coming here."

"Then exactly why are you here?!" Bunpei yelled.

Luka thought for a moment. "Ah, well. My cover's been blown. I may as well come clean. I'm here to catch the mysterious phantom thief, Mouse."

"Mouse, you say?" Tougo asked, leaving Irina alone for a bit. "What makes you think he's here?"

"That's not the most pressing matter right now, surprisingly," said Kotaka. "In case you don't see exactly what's going on right now, Irina appears to be going insane."

"I'm just fine, politician girl," said Irina. I doubt it. She's still giggling like some villain out of a horror movie.

Tougo sighed. "You're right," he said. "Neko, take Irina to her room."

"I might if you come with me, hehe~" said Neko, ignoring the fact that he didn't add that honorific to her name.

"No," said Tougo. "Jay and I will come visit tomorrow, but please take care of her for tonight."

"Uh, not that I'm not all for helping," began Jay. "But why don't I go now with Neko, then you come over tomorrow?"

"I'd... just rather not go by myself," said Tougo.

"Huhuhu~ How cute~ He's too nervous to be alone with me. Is it because I'm a girl or because you're just scared of me?" Irina asked teasingly.

"Forget that for now," said Jay. "Neko and I are spending the night with you."

"That's probably a good idea," said Yasushi. "You two have sufficiently embarrassed him, and Irina-san would probably be best kept in the hands of her two closest friends here."

Tougo turned to speak to Yasushi. "I-I-I'm not embarrassed," stammered Tougo. The fact that he's blushing tells a different story.

"Please just go," said Kotaka. "Everyone else, please go to your rooms. It's almost nighttime."

"Wait, we can't just-" began Tobiki, but he was interrupted by Hanneko's announcement.

"Hey, you losers! Another day, another death! Luckily you guys managed to stay alive through another totes difficult case, so congratulations! Look out for a surprise tomorrow. It's currently nighttime, so go the fuck to your rooms!"

"... Okay. See you guys tomorrow," Tobiki said dejectedly. He left, followed by Jay and Neko carrying Irina. Nezumi followed Luka out of the gym, and Bunpei left a while after them. As I prepared to leave, Kotaka grabbed my shoulder.

"Stay here," she said. "In fact, I'm glad you guys were the last ones to leave." She turned to address Tougo and Yasushi.

"Why?" Tougo asked.

"We need to discuss several things," said Kotaka. "Actually, we're missing one other person I want to speak to... Meet me in the cafeteria in five minutes." With that and nothing more than that, she left. Surprisingly, Yasushi didn't go with her.

"Hey, Hanai-kun," said Yasushi. "Nakauchi-san didn't willingly give up the ElectroID to you, correct?"

Tougo didn't seem taken aback at all. "No, he did not," he said. "Explaining why I'd need it would have wasted investigation time, so I took it and left. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, so you've already looked at it? Then, I implore you, to avoid further conflict, keep Nakauchi-san's gender a secret."

Now Tougo seemed taken aback. A look of realization spread across his face. "I... actually didn't look at it," he said. Oh?

"So... you still don't know?" I asked.

The expression on Tougo's face changed to condescension. "Well, I was completely focused on the investigation. I don't care enough about Nakauchi to want to know that," he said.

"Love you, too, asshole," I said sarcastically. "Anyway, we may as well go to the cafeteria right now. Ido-san probably has something important to tell us if she wanted to keep it so exclusive. She was even willing to break two of her rules for it."

"Right," said Yasushi. We all left the gym and walked to the cafeteria. Kotaka was there with Nezumi. I'm guessing she was the person Kotaka also wanted to speak with.

"Alright, don't want to waste any time," said Kotaka. "This trial we just finished- didn't it seem suspicious?"

"Congratulations, you've just uttered the understatement of the century," said Tougo. Kotaka glared at him. "I'm serious," she said.

"She's right," said Nezumi. "Hanneko was behaving very oddly the entire time."

"Hm? How so?" Tougo said.

"Now that you mention it," I began. "He was. Normally Hanneko is completely quiet about important details, but… He kinda gave away a bunch of important hints during the trial."

"Exactly," said Kotaka. "That is what I wanted to discuss. Why would he be so helpful and out of character so suddenly?"

"I think I have an idea," said Tougo.

"Well, just tell us what it is," said Yasushi impatiently. Another first.

"Hanneko's trying to prolong our lives as much as he can. I'm not sure why, but I'm positive that's what's going on here," he said.

"While I agree that that may be the primary reason, how can you be so sure, Hanai?" Kotaka asked.

"I have an idea," I said.

"Please don't start with this," said Tougo.

"Start with what?" Nezumi asked.

"My guess on who the mastermind is," I said.

"Uh… Nakauchi-san, I kinda think we should refrain from accusing people… In a previous meeting, it only led to more problems, and if we're going to get out of here, we'll need to trust each other and be trustworthy. Plus, it seems pretty unlikely that anyone that organized this would be a student among us—his or her life would be in danger, which kinda makes me doubt there's anyone here that isn't a victim," said Yasushi. He has a point, but still… we could be telling the mastermind everything in this meeting…

"Nya, even if the 'mastermind'—as you guys like to say—is or isn't here right now, you're still giving him a lot of information," said a familiarly annoying voice. Before I realized it, Hanneko was walking towards the middle of the table. Once he arrived, he sat down and placed his paw to his mouth.

"But it doesn't matter either way. Any trick you guys try to get out of here won't work. Unlike a certain predecessor, I've managed to make this place completely isolated from the outside. You can't call for help, and anyone outside that tries to help will fail, rest assured~" said Hanneko. How can he be so cheery and so sinister at the same time?!

"Predecessor, you say?" Tougo asked. Hanneko's face appeared shocked.

"Nya! I've said too much!" Hanneko exclaimed as he ran away. Honestly, what was the point of that?

"Well, that gives confirmation," said Tougo. "This person is a copycat. Somehow they knew exactly how a previous plan went and tried to use it on us."

"Didn't we already establish that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," said Tougo. "But now that our esteemed leaders have heard this, there shouldn't be too much doubt anymore."

"There still is," said Kotaka. "Hanai, how do you know so much about the past?"

"I already told you that I'm not sure," he said. "All I know is that I'm not wrong… somehow…"

"Uh… Tougo-kun," said Nezumi. "Look me in the eyes." He complied, surprisingly. They seemed to stare intently at each other for a while.

"I don't really see the point in this," he said. Nezumi shushed him.

"Tougo-kun, what's your real name?" Nezumi asked. Huh? Why would she ask that?

"It's Tougo Hanai," he said.

"Alright… what would you say is your best talent?" Uh… he's a languages expert, right?

"Uh, probably my ability to easily learn a spoken language," said Tougo. They were still looking at each other. I'm still not seeing the point to this.

"Okay… are you worried about Iririn?"

"Of course I am!" Tougo said somewhat enthusiastically. His expression changed somewhat, but he still had the same look in his eyes from before.

"Karafuto, what's the point of this?" Kotaka asked. Nezumi ignored her.

"Okay, one last question," she said finally. "Are you the person behind this school life of mutual killing?"

"Absolutely not," said Tougo. Same expression from when this started…

"Hm…" Nezumi thought. "Okay, you can stop staring."

"Good. That was slightly uncomfortable," said Tougo.

"Uh… what just happened?" I asked.

"I don't believe Tougo-kun is the mastermind," said Nezumi.

"How can you be so sure?" Kotaka asked.

"Hm… Just a feeling," said Nezumi. I'm conflicted. I trust Nezumi's judgment, but I still think Tougo has an important part in this evil plan…

"… Alright then. For now, let's advance the discussion," said Kotaka. "I feel like this is somehow being planned…"

"More obvious statements," said Tougo.

"Not in the obvious way," said Kotaka. "I think the mastermind might be trying to eliminate certain people on purpose…"

"Huh?" I said.

"Can you at least say an actual word?" Tougo asked.

"Guys," said Nezumi, trying to stop us. "But yes, I think you have a point. The play… didn't it seem off?"

"We went over this in the second trial," said Tougo. "The play wasn't conceived before the class meeting in the theater."

"I know, I know," said Nezumi. "But think about it. While Iririn may have made a request for what type of character she'd portray, it's not like the play idea couldn't have gone a million different ways…"

"True… but that specific premise had to have been a coincidence," said Yasushi. "No one here knew that anyone would react so horribly to it."

"I'm guessing someone did," said Nezumi. "Hanneko said that he knew everyone's secrets. I may be being naïve, but I kinda believe him. The person behind him may have suggested the idea somehow to Tougo-kun…"

"What… What do you mean?" Tougo asked.

"I'm not sure," said Nezumi. "But Tougo-kun, how did you come up with that idea? For someone as calm as you, such an idea seems…"

"I… based it on a dream I had," said Tougo.

"How the hell…" said Yasushi, but his countenance changed back.

"Hanai-kun, what kind of dream was it?" Yasushi asked.

"It was weird. In it, my younger sister went insane and tried to kill everyone in my family while we were making dinner. I was the last to be killed, so I saw everything," he said.

"Uh… That sounds more like a nightmare than anything," said Nezumi.

"Eh. Stuff like that doesn't scare me, so I wouldn't call it that," said Tougo.

"But how would you not be scared by something like that?" Yasushi asked.

"Simple," he said. "It was a dream. Nothing more, nothing less. It couldn't actually harm me, so I wasn't worried."

"Still," I said. "There's a good chance that it wasn't just a dream…"

"Huh?" Tougo said.

"Full words, Glasses," I said. "Anyway, some serious mind games are going on here. Do you think it's possible that the idea was somehow programed into you?"

"That's really stupid," he said. "This situation is unreal, but I'm pretty sure it's not some psychological sci-fi movie or something."

"You're too skeptical, Hanai," said Kotaka. "How can you adamantly believe that we've had our memories erased, but not believe that your mind's been interfered in?"

"I… I just do," said Tougo.

"Real strong argument," I said.

"In any case, there's still something we need to discuss," said Kotaka.

"Right," I said. "The more I think about it, your hypothesis seems to make sense. If Hanneko solely wanted to stick objectively to what he put in place, then why did he change the identity of the culprit in the second trial? Isn't there a rule stating that only the killer would get out alive or be punished or something? Technically, Irina's the one that 'killed' Yanaihara-kun…"

"That's true," Nezumi said. "And in another case, why did he let Miss Darlington break so many rules? I doubt that he'd do it solely for the sake of murder."

"Because," said Tougo. "The mastermind wants us all to live for as long as possible, but still wants us to kill each other off. I can't exactly describe how that would make sense, but…"

"Maybe he doesn't want to see his friends die all at once?" Nezumi suggested.

"If that were the case, then why start this 'Mutual Killing' bullshit at all?!" Tougo yelled. Wow, that's really out of character for him…

"Aagh!" Tougo lay his head on the table. He seems… Angry? Sad? Scared? Whatever it was, I don't like seeing him like this…

"I'm tired," said Tougo. "If it's okay with you, may I please dismiss myself?"

Kotaka sighed. "Fine. You four, meet me in the minor library tomorrow at noon. This is urgent, but we're of no use if we're all tired. It's well past nighttime anyway, so we should go back to the dorms."

With that, Kotaka left. "Yasushi, come with me," she said.

Afterwards, Nezumi, Tougo, and I left to go to—whoa, wait a second. Did Kotaka just call Yasushi by his first name?

"Odd, isn't it?" Tougo said. He seems to have reverted back to his normal Tougo attitude.

"Let me guess, you're talking about Ido-san and Sugihara-kun?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Yep. I'm kinda glad those two have become close. They're good for each other," said Nezumi.

"Uh… Sure," said Tougo. I arrived soon at my door and opened it after saying goodnight to Nezumi. As I had changed out of my normal clothing and into my pajamas, I heard a knock at my door. Gee, I wonder who that could be.

"What? Offended that I didn't wish you a good night?" I asked Tougo as I opened the door.

"Hardly," he said. "I need to speak to you."

"Of course you do," I said.

"Shh. You're going to need to come with me," he said. "We'll be breaking one of Ido's rules, and I don't want to get caught, so be quiet."

"Okay then… and exactly where are you taking me?" I asked.

"That's a secret," he said. Oh God.

We walked towards the minor library with only the glow from our ElectroIDs to guide us beyond the dorms. I was still in my pajamas. I'm hoping this can be done quickly.

"Have you ever been here?" Tougo asked. We were at the doors of the minor library.

"Uh… yeah. I was here earlier today with Sugihara-kun," I said. We both walked in after Tougo found the doorknob. "Help find a lamp," he commanded. After looking for a while, the library was illuminated by a faint light. It's light enough that I can see, but it's not too bright in here. I saw Tougo step away from the lamp for a while.

"Uh… It looks the same as earlier," I said. It still has its small shelves, the large brick column in the middle of the library, and a few computers by a desk. None of them are in operation, unfortunately.

"Of course it does. Do I need to give you a hint for everything?" He took a seat at the table holding the lamp.

"Uh…" I said.

"Think, Nakauchi. This is a school, is it not?"

"That brings up a good point. We never really established that we were actually at the New Hope's Peak school. For all we know, we could have been kidnapped and put in a replica school," I said.

"Okay, even assuming this is a replica, it's still based on a school, right?" Tougo asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"I… I guess. It's kinda odd, but it still seems like a school," I said.

"So, what is this school missing that we haven't discovered yet?" Tougo asked.

"Hm… That's a good question," I said… What's missing… No teachers… No staff… No known principals… We haven't found an office…

"We haven't found any kind of offices, right?" I asked.

"Nice. That only took a few minutes after giving it some thought," he said in his usual condescending tone. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Please stop doing that. Anyway, yes, a school should have a main office. Especially one as prestigious as New Hope's Peak," he said. "And, of course, this one is no exception."

"So… You've found the office?" I asked.

"I believe so. Have you ever noticed how high the ceilings are in the gym and the cafeteria?" Tougo said. Huh? Why is that relevant?

"Yeah…?" I said.

"Yeah. Comparatively, the ceilings in the hallways and the other rooms are pretty low," he said. Oh!

"This building has a second floor!" I exclaimed. Tougo sighed.

"I already know that," he said. "But I'm glad I don't have to tell you everything."

"So, what you're saying is the second floor of this building has the offices and stuff?"

"Yes."

"So… How do we get there?"

"Why else would I bring you to the library?" Tougo said condescendingly. Again.

"What, is there some sort of secret door?" I asked sarcastically. He smirked, giving away the answer to my ridiculous suspicion.

"Of course," I said. "So, where's the door?"

"You've come this far. I think you can guess," he said.

"What, have I exhausted all my hints?" I asked.

"Ugh. Fine. Something here seems extremely out of place and attention-grabbing, does it not?" Tougo asked. Something out of place…? Hm… What immediately grabs my attention about this place? I walked over and examined the column. One of the bricks stood out, as it was a dark beige color whereas the other ones were reds and reddish color mixes. It was about to my shoulder in height on the column. Something compelled me to press it, and after doing so, a bell sounded and a portion of the column opened to reveal the inside of a lit cylindrical elevator. Even here, there played some annoying elevator music.

"Good job," said Tougo as he left the table and stood next to me. A second later, he stepped inside it and beckoned me inside with his left hand.

"Come on," said Tougo. "We've got a floor to examine, and not much time to do it."

"Okay," I said as the elevator ascended. The elevator itself is pretty spacey. Probably to make it easier to transport furniture to the higher floors.

The elevator opened and revealed a small hallway. There were two rooms on the left and right sides each, and one room on the far end. I'm guessing it's the principal's room. The two of us walked towards that room.

"Yo, Glasses," I said.

He sighed. "What?" Tougo asked.

"Why do you have me here? I mean, you were with Nezumi, or you could have asked Ido-san or Sugihara-kun. I'm sure they'd have liked to know," I said.

"Hm…" He thought for a moment. "A couple of reasons," he said. "You distinctly stated that you wanted to take Hanneko down. Is that correct?"

"Yeah…" I said. But do I really want to do that? It seems more like I'm not wanting to do anything. I don't explore much anymore, and I'm feeling a bit out of touch with everybody for some reason. Maybe I'm getting a bit depressed…

"That's one reason. I wanted to test one more thing," he said.

"What's up with you and these freaking tests?" I asked.

"Anyway, I don't feel like telling you what that is," he said. "You'll figure out eventually."

Hmph. We arrived at the door, but soon afterwards I heard something that sounded like… Broken glass. Definitely. We opened it to find Luka here as well. He was examining a broken standing mirror that had fallen. I'm guessing that's the source of the breaking glass sound.

"Luka?! Why are you here?" I asked. He looked up at me, then laughed.

"Hello, Rin," said Luka. "I see Tougo told you about this floor as well. It's too bad. I didn't want anyone else to get involved."

"Get involved? In what?" I asked.

As I said this, Luka reached in his back pocket and pulled out… A gun? Where the fuck did he get a fucking gun?!

"Please leave," Luka said with a smile. "I need to examine this place, and I don't really like to work in teams. If you leave and never say a word about this, then I'll not say a word about it, either. If you stay, or if you talk about this to anyone else, I'll have to kill you. Sad, no one would find you two here, since we're probably the only ones that know about this secret part of the building. You'll rot and disappear before anyone could find you. If you don't want that to be your fate, heed my warning."

God fucking damn it! This is why I don't leave my room on my own. It'd be bad if I died, but worse if I was never found. I looked over to Tougo, who seemed surprisingly calm. He seemed to be thinking and staring intently at the mirror, then the gun…

"Nakauchi, doesn't that gun look familiar?" Tougo asked.

"I don't fucking know! This isn't the time for that!"

"Please calm down," he said. "Luka, does that gun work?"

Luka seemed slightly taken aback. "Y-yes," he said. "I tested it on this mirror, if you don't believe me."

"Fine. I'm not going to leave, so it's fine if you try to shoot me," said Tougo. Uh… What? Is he suicidal or something?!

"Tougo, what the—" I began, but he raised a finger to his lips to tell me to stay quiet.

"Go ahead," said Tougo. Luka seemed conflicted for a while, but then he raised the gun at Tougo and fired. I closed my eyes, but opened them again when I didn't hear a gunshot. Somehow, Tougo was still standing. He looked pretty much the same, except he had taken off his glasses. One of the lenses had a rubber dart with a suction cup on the end stuck to it.

"Is that…" I asked.

"Yeah. I almost got scared for a moment when he pulled the trigger, but as I thought, this is the gun that Ying had in her execution," said Tougo. Somehow I was both relieved and infuriated.

"Haha! I was hoping you'd leave, but I guess that can't be helped now," said Luka. "In any case, how did you know?"

"A couple of reasons. One, you weren't here for the first week, so you didn't know that we'd all seen that gun before," said Tougo. "Two, the statement you made about the mirror was a lie. You probably just knocked it down on accident. There's no bullet hole on the wall that was behind it. Three, we heard the glass breaking, but no gunshot. It wasn't that hard to see that you were bluffing."

Wow. That was pretty smart. I didn't even think to look at the wall itself.

"Hm. My question is how were you able to figure that out, but not Rin?" Luka asked.

"Really. Aren't you supposed to be our team's investigator?" Tougo asked.

"Shut up," I said. "I'm tired, and it's probably well past midnight. I'd normally be asleep about five hours earlier than this."

"Anyway," said Tougo. "Look around in here. There's probably a lot to investigate in here, so stop making excuses."

Pfft. I looked at the desk while Tougo and Luka discussed some things in Russian. I mostly ignored them. On the desk were four black folders with the Hope's Peak seal on them. In the corner of each folder were four numbers. Seventy-seven, seventy-eight, seventy-nine, and eighty. I opened the folder that said eighty, since it was on top. I read through it, and a horrible realization sat deep within my mind. I was looking at information on all of us here and a few people that I didn't recognize. They had our names and pictures on them, along with information about talents and personal aspects. The most horrifying thing about it was that more than half of these profiles had a pink X on them. All of the kids that died here had them, and so did almost all of the kids whose faces and names I had never seen before. Just what happened?

I looked through the other files, which had similar details about them. I looked at seventy-nine. By the time I got to seventy-eight and seventy-seven, I was tired of reading through files and looking at pictures. The file with the fewest X's was the file with the seventy-nine on it. I'm guessing these guys were our seniors, since New Hope's Peak was established not too long ago.

Wait. Something about that doesn't make sense. I remember looking up at the school on the mountain along the way to my middle school, but… I've been seeing it since seventh grade. I'm in tenth grade now… Huh? Maybe I'm just tired…

I tuned in to Luka and Tougo's discussion, which seems to have escalated into a heated argument. Time to ruin the mood.

"Wow, seems like you two have some serious sexual tension going on between you both," I said. Tougo turned to me with a look as if he'd forgotten I was here, then began to speak.

"W-w-what the hell would make you say that?!" Tougo said. Oddly, Luka reacted by laughing.

"Hahaha! Always the one with the amusing quips, I see," said Luka.

"A-anyway," said Tougo. "You stated that you already investigated here. You were clearly here long before us, so why stay?"

"Hm… 'Cuz," he said. "Anyway, you two should leave as well. At this rate, we'll only have a few hours to sleep, so I'll just leave now. It'd be suspicious if we missed Kotaka's morning meeting. Good luck~"

Luka left. For some reason, I feel like these two were made for each other somehow.

"So… You and Luka…" I joked.

"Please don't even talk about that," said Tougo.

"Anyway, he's kinda right. I'm getting tired," I said.

"Fine. Just stay here with me for a few more minutes, then we'll go. Show me what you've discovered," he said.

"Uh… Look at these," I said, handing him files seventy-nine and eighty. He pondered them for a moment.

"Hm… Alright. Anything else?"

"Uh… I dunno…" I kinda only looked at those files while he was talking, and he probably wouldn't be too interested in the older files. I think those classes were from before the despair incident, so there's probably nothing new to him.

Tougo sighed. Am I that exasperating? He always seems to be sighing because of me.

"So, you didn't bother to look at the filing cabinets or the drawers, or even the door behind the desk?" Tougo said.

"Wha-oh," I said. There was a white sliding door with half of Hanneko's face carved out. The door's edges blended in exactly with the wall, in my defense. It was kinda hard to even find where to pull it. Once I did, I slid the door over to reveal that there was a blue door with a doorknob and a blue drawing of Hanneko's face. I tried to turn it, but it didn't move at all.

"It's locked," I said. Tougo was over at the filing cabinets. I didn't even here him step away.

"So are the filing cabinets," he said. "Well, looks like we're out of luck for now. Let's try again some later time." He began to walk towards the door.

"Uh… Okay…" I said.

We left the office, then towards the elevator. We were mostly silent.

"Wait," I said. "I have a question."

"When do you not?" Tougo said sarcastically. "Anyway, ask away."

"Didn't you say that this place was undiscovered?" I asked as we descended to the first floor.

"Yeah, it was," he said.

"Then… how did Luka find it?"

"Apparently, he followed me to the column when I learned about it one day, and I didn't notice at all," he said ashamedly. "I asked him that when you were looking at the files. I'll have to be more careful."

"Well, I guess that's not too surprising," I said. Luka is the Super High School Level Spy, after all. We were quiet for the remainder of the time there. Not much else happened, besides the fact that we arrived at the library to see that the lamp had been turned off. Luckily we were able to use our ElectroIDs to get out. We walked to the dorms before Tougo broke the silence.

"You probably shouldn't try to go to the offices by yourself too often," said Tougo. "There's a good chance you'll be caught by Hanneko or the mastermind, and I'm not sure what either would do to you."

"Huh?" I said. "Are you _worried_ about me?"

"Not so much as I'm worried we'd lose an investigator," he said. "If any of the next killers were smart enough, they'd go after the people that are best at solving the cases."

"Gee, try to be more optimistic, Glasses," I said. "Not everyone here is planning a murder. Most aren't, more than likely."

"Optimism isn't exactly helpful in this situation," he said. Finally, I was at my room.

"Later, Glasses," I said.

"Yeah, yeah," he said as he walked away from my door. I looked at a clock on my wall. It's almost two in the morning. God, it's been a long night.

"Good morning, losers! It's now morning time. Rise and shine, and let's give it our all again today~"

Something seemed off about this announcement. It seemed… longer, somehow. Oh, I see. I happened to wake up before the announcement was read. Only five hours, huh? I hope I don't pass out today. Hm… I should probably go see how Irina's doing today. I'm kinda worried, but a bit ashamed that I didn't think of her earlier.

After making the usual daily preparations, I went to look for Irina's room. It didn't take long to find it, and it looks like Neko left and Tougo arrived. Their names were in her room on the map.

I knocked, and Jay answered.

"Yo," she said. "How's it hangin'?"

"Good," I said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said as she let me in. "Tougo's here, too, by the way."

I noticed him sitting by the desk near Irina's bed. I never noticed this before, but it seems like the rooms are formatted the same way for the most part. Tougo was facing the further wall.

"So…" I said. "Where's Irina?"

"She's getting ready in the bathroom," said Jay. She looked at Tougo. "I already left her some clothes in there, so you don't need to look away.

"I'm not looking away," said Tougo. He totally is.

"Fine. She seems to have calmed down, by the way. I'm not a psychiatrist, so that's either a good thing or a really bad thing," Jay said to me.

"Well… Maybe it's a good thing," I said.

"At least she's stopped gigglin'," said Jay.

"We can't trust that she's gone back to normal completely," said Tougo. "The way she spoke last night… She's been harboring these feelings for a while. She probably feels guilty about Yanaihara's death. We didn't notice at all, and she made sure we didn't by acting how she normally did…"

"Yeah, you're right…" I said. "She was back to her normal happy self after the trial. Really, that should have indicated that something was wrong…"

I heard the water shut off, and the three of us were silent. Irina stepped out after a few minutes.

"Oh, Tougo and Rin are here," she said with a smile.

"Yeah… Is everything okay? Do you need someone to talk to?" I asked.

"I'm okay. Really, you guys worry too much," she said.

"Contrarily, we weren't worried enough," said Tougo.

"So… let's go to the cafeteria," said Jay. Good idea. We all walked there a few minutes before eight and made it in time. There were cereals and fruits placed on the cart by the foot of the table. It's a bit like a small buffet. We probably won't be having cooked food for a while…

"Okay," said Kotaka. "It's the morning after Ko's trial. Which means Hanneko has two 'surprises' for us."

"Kotaka-sama," said Bunpei. "If it's okay with you all, I'd like to keep Ko-chan's ElectroID."

"Alright. Does anyone have any objections?"

We were silent.

"Okay. No one? We'll talk about it after the meeting, Furuda," said Kotaka.

"Hm… Okay," said Bunpei.

Nezumi raised her hand. "I went to see the new building. I could only really describe it as a fine arts building," she said. "There are studios, music rooms, art classrooms, kitchens, and there's even a theater that's even bigger than the one in this building. A bit excessive as far as the theater goes, if you ask me, but it seems like a cool building."

"Okay. I thought so. Everyone," said Kotaka. "We've been here for quite a few weeks. There's bound to be someone who—

"Huhuhu~" giggled Irina. God damn it.

"Not this again. Irina, please stay quiet," said Kotaka.

"Huhu~ Sorry, but I can't exactly do that," said Irina. "Everyone, I have a suggestion to make."

"Uh, Irina-san? I kinda think…" began Tobiki, but he stopped after looking at Irina.

"Why don't we all stay here?" Irina suggested.

"Stay… We can't!" Tobiki found his voice.

"Of course we can, Tobi-chan~" said Irina. "This place appears to be self-sustaining, and there are plenty of things and people to keep us all busy, huhu~ As long as no murders take place, we pretty much have all that we need."

"We can't," said Nezumi. "Staying here means never seeing our families or our friends or the outside world ever again! Our hopes to get out are what keep us going!"

"Huhu~ Haven't you realized, Nezu-chan?" Irina asked. "All your 'hopes' to leave are what led to six deaths. 'Hope' is the worst thing to have here."

For some reason, her next words stuck with me. They'll reverberate in my mind for a long time. Somehow... I felt… when I heard them… is it… Happiness?

"Join me here~ We could all die horribly in the name of hope, or we can all live here in the safety and comfort of despair!"


	15. Chapter Four: A Game of Cat and Mouse

**Yo! This story is back off hiatus! Unfortunately, school's kinda been kicking my butt the entire time, so I was only able to write three completed chapters in that time (I know, I kinda suck at this). Due to this, the story will temporarily be updated every Tuesday until June, then it'll be updated twice a week (maybe even three times, since I probably won't have anything to do). Until then, thank you for your patience, and I hope you don't hate me too much by the time the story ends. Leave reviews if you have theories, questions, or criticisms (I actually enjoy reading what you guys have to say)! Allons-y! :D**

**(PS: I finally bothered to learn how to put lines in the text properly :3 )**

* * *

><p>"Fi-nya-lly!" emphasized a really really <em>really<em> annoying voice. "Finally, someone here develops some common sense! As long as you don't kill anyone, you can live here in peace. Buuuuuuut, if another one of you bastards tries to get out, you'll only cause more problems. Really, I'd rather see the murders happening."

"You miserable stuffed toy!" Jay shouted. "Don't you dare try to justify Irina's current state!"

"I'm not trying to justify anything, nya," said Hanneko. "Anyway, since we're all here, I have a nyannouncement for you guys! Be in the Fine Arts building at noon."

He left again, leaving us all staring at the space he left. Irina broke the silence.

"Yay~ A compliment from Hanneko," she said. Tougo facepalmed.

"Anyway," said Kotaka. "I have nothing more to tell you all. You may stay here and eat, or go explore the new building. And someone trustworthy, please make sure Irina stays safe."

After that, a few people left the cafeteria. Probably to explore the Fine Arts building. Eventually the only people left were me, Bunpei, Tougo, and Kotaka.

"Furuda, I'll speak with you in a moment," said Kotaka to Bunpei. "Can you please step outside the cafeteria for a few minutes? I'll be out to talk to you about Yamamoto's ElectroID in a while." Bunpei sighed, but left quietly. Kotaka turned to address me and Tougo.

"Hanai, Nakauchi. Is there something that the two of you need to tell me?"

I began to answer, but stopped once I realized that my mouth was full of dry cereal.

"No, there isn't," said Tougo. Kotaka glared at him.

"Hm… Fine. You two, the meeting's moved to ten. Meet me in the minor library at that time," said Kotaka. After she left, Tougo turned to look at me. His face was serious for a moment, but then he started chuckling.

I swallowed some of the cereal I had in my mouth and shot him an angry look. "What's so funny?" I asked.

He stopped chuckling for a moment, but his face remained in a stupid smirk. "I was going to ask you why you didn't say anything, but then I saw your face. You look really silly stuffing your face with food," he said.

"Hmph," I said. "I was hungry. I didn't get to eat last night after the trial."

"You could at least try to eat normally," he said.

"Anyway, why'd you lie to Ido-san?" I asked.

"I didn't lie," he said. "I don't have anything to tell her."

"Uh… What about…"

"Yeah, I didn't need to tell her that," said Tougo. "I'm going to look at the new building. Don't do anything stupid in the meantime," he said as he left. After a few minutes, I decided to go to the new building as well. I considered going back to sleep, but I didn't trust that I'd wake up in time for Kotaka's meeting. I went to find the door to the west side of the building, which was harder than it should have been. The first room I saw was a huge exhibition room filled with sculptures and paintings and other works of art. It looked like some sort of fancy museum or auction room. I'm not sure.

I saw Nezumi and Tobiki staring at a sculpture in the middle of the room. The sculpture appeared to be of a helmeted woman that's ready to fly, with pieces of fabric floating around to cover her. She held a book in her hands. Nezumi noticed me first.

"Rin-chan, come over here," said Nezumi solemnly. What up with the sudden change in attitude?

I walked over to them, looking at the sculpture along the way. "Hmmm," I said. "It looks like it's made well and realistic, but it kinda lacks originality."

"Uh… That's not the issue," said Tobiki.

"There's an issue?" I asked. Nezumi sighed.

"Yes," she said. "Tougo-kun's theory checks out. We may have been here for more than these past few weeks."

"Huh? How could you tell?" I asked.

"Look at the plaque at the base," said Tobiki. I looked down at it. It was dark brown and made of wood, but the lettering carved into it was painted gold. I read it.

"Athena Taking Flight, by Nezumi Karafuto," I read aloud. The last part (I'm assuming it was the year in which it was made) was scratched out. I suddenly realized what they meant.

"You made this?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. "It looks like something I would do, but I don't remember making this at all!"

"Well," said Tobiki. "It might just be a trick by the person behind this! They probably made it while we weren't able to get here."

Nezumi analyzed the sculpture a bit more closely. "Aagh!" She yelled. "This wasn't faked," she yelled after peering at one of the pieces of sculpted fabric. "Look underneath this."

She stepped away. I let Tobiki look underneath it first, and I noticed his eyes widen in shock.

"This… Ka… Ne," he said. "This is a signature, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she said. "I normally hide those two syllables somewhere on something I make."

Ka Ne… Karafuto… Nezumi…

"I see… Ken-kun and I used to do the same thing," said Tobiki.

"Whoa," I said. "There's still a chance this was replicated…"

"I'm still not sure that I made this," said Nezumi. "But… I must have… That's my signature… Gah! I'm so confuuuuuuused."

I'm… Not sure what to do with this information. Someone had to have… But if she hides it, then it's kinda unlikely…

Nezumi sighed. "Let's go find the others," she said. "The only other things on this floor are art studios and storage rooms." We walked up the stairs to the second floor. I walked down the hallway and noticed that there seemed to be a few classrooms. I opened one door to see Kotaka, Yasushi, Neko, and Luka there. Luka's face looked shocked for half a second.

"Rin, step outside for a moment," he said. Uh… Okay? I left without protest and stood outside the room.

"Come back in," he called. I opened it again, this time seeing shock on the faces of the others.

"Whoa! Did you guys see those sparks?" Neko asked. Sparks?

"Heh, that is what I wanted you guys to see," said Luka.

"Wait, what's happening?" I asked. Kotaka walked past me and looked closely at the door. She stared at the locking mechanism.

"I think I know what this is," said Kotaka. "Ying told me about a stone that could be used to start fires by making sparks, but I don't remember what it was called. Maybe… Frent?"

"I think you mean flint," said Yasushi. We stood silent for a moment.

"So, they made the doors able to start fires? I don't think the builders would do that," said Neko.

"No, but this may not be the work of the builders," said Kotaka.

"Hm…" Luka thought. "Well, the sparks disappeared soon after they hit the floor, so we probably have nothing to worry about here."

"Still," said Yasushi. "We should be careful. This seems like the kind of thing that could be used for a trap."

"True," said Kotaka. "There doesn't seem to be anything really dangerous in here. Most of the utensils and dishes are plastic, and the appliances are electric, so no fires from the stove. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of flour in here. But why would Hanneko want to gather us in here at noon?"

"That's a good question," said Yasushi.

"Maybe we're getting cooking lessons?" Luka joked. Kotaka and the others ignored him.

"Anyway, be careful," said Kotaka. "Remember the last time Hanneko had us all gathered together?"

"Yeah, he assigned that play," I said.

"Right. Watch out. It's almost ten," said Kotaka as she left with Yasushi. Luka and Neko stayed in the room.

"So, you're a spy? That's totally kakkoi!" Neko said. Luka smirked.

"Hehe. I guess so. Even though I'm not really doing a good job while I'm stuck in here," he said.

"Hm… So, why are you here again?" Neko asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Luka said as he struck a ridiculous pose. "I'm here to catch Mouse!"

"Mouse? In here?" Neko asked. "I thought he was a super awesome, super sexy, super mysterious phantom thief. Why would he be here, and who could it possibly be?"

"Haha! While my target definitely fits those parameters, I can't exactly say that he isn't here. In fact, I think I'm exactly right in who it could be among these people," said Luka confidently. "The problem would be finding a way out with him though…"

"Hu. Well, I'm conflicted. I want to see you succeed like those super sugoi spies in movies, but Mouse is totally cool and super elusive! No one's ever been able to catch him, and he'd disappoint his fans if he were arrested," said Neko. Wait, why am I still here?

Luka looked into Neko's eyes and held her hands in his. "Well," he said. "When I do find a way out, I'll make sure to take you with me. After all, don't the spy stories tend to end with the spy escaping with the beautiful leading lady?" He winked, and Neko giggled sheepishly. Okay, now I'm ready to leave. This is making me kinda sick.

I walked out the door, noting that this door opens both inward and outward, and made my way to the minor library. Checking my ElectroID, I noticed that the others were already there. It looked like Kotaka already started the meeting when I walked in.

"Furthermore, we need to make sure no one falls victim to one of Hanneko's tricks again. The door to the kitchen classroom in the Fine Arts building is rigged to create sparks. Though I don't see how that could cause more than a couple of burns, be careful," said Kotaka.

"Uh, how does it make sparks?" Nezumi asked.

"The part by the doorknob was replaced by frint," said Kotaka.

"She means flint," said Yasushi.

"Alright," said Tougo. "But that's the least of our worries right now. Karafuto found something in the room on the first floor of that building that helps my theory."

"Uh, right," said Nezumi. "One of my sculptures was in there."

"But when could you have made a sculpture? I think someone would have noticed," said Yasushi.

"I don't know. I'm just certain that it's mine," said Nezumi.

"Alright," said Kotaka. "How long would it have taken you to make the sculpture?"

"Uhm… Adjusting for school schedules and allotting two hours a day for it, it'd probably take me… about a year," said Nezumi.

"That seems like a pretty long time," I said.

"Hey. Clay isn't my best medium," she said.

"So, there's been at least one year before this time in which we could have known each other," said Kotaka. "Is that what you're saying, Hanai?"

"Yes," he said. "But I feel like it might have been more than that."

"Well, we have no concrete evidence about that," said Yasushi.

"Still. If it's true, then we may find more examples," said Kotaka. "Next order of business. We need to figure out exactly why Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov is here. If he wasn't lying last night, we need to figure out who his target is. We don't know him well, and that target could be a next victim."

"He says he's targeting Mouse, the phantom thief that constantly taunts the police by pulling off seemingly impossible heists," said Tougo. "In case some of you didn't know."

"So. Do any of you have any evidence that Mouse is here?" Kotaka asked.

"I don't think so," said Yasushi.

"Yeah," said Nezumi. "Isn't it possible that the mastermind is programming the idea that Mouse is here into Ru-kun's brain?"

Tougo sighed. "We don't even know that the mastermind is even doing that," he said.

"Jeez, Tougo-kun," said Nezumi.

"Okay," said Kotaka. "Assuming that Mouse is here, that means that Mouse can only be a student. We need to figure out who that is and keep conflicts from starting between those two."

"Then… Who could Mouse be?" I asked.

"It's not hard to figure out. If my guess is correct, then Mouse is in no real danger, and it's impossible for Luka to kill him, so long as neither one does something stupid," said Tougo.

"Uh... Tougo-kun, you already figured out who Mouse is?" Nezumi asked.

"Of course," he said. "Don't bother asking, because I'm keeping quiet. Can't have a mysterious thief holding a grudge against me. Who knows what he could resort to here?"

"Uh… Okay…" said Nezumi.

"That's ridiculous," said Kotaka. "If you know, then tell us. Unless you are Mouse."

Tougo adjusted his glasses, and they created a glare for half a second. "I can assure you, I'm not Mouse," he said.

"Uh…" I began. "It'd probably be safer to assume that Mouse isn't here and Luka's just an idiot."

"There are few things more dangerous than idiots that think they're smart. Basic political history will teach you that," said Kotaka. She began to speak again, but was interrupted by an announcement.

"Nya. May I have your attention?" Hanneko said over the intercom. "It's almost noon, and you bastards know what that means~ Be in the third building kitchen soon!"

"Ugh," said Kotaka. "We'll continue in this library after nighttime. Make sure none of you guys get caught by the other students. Especially not Luka."

"Roger that," said Nezumi as we all stood up to leave. I noticed Kotaka looking at the column on the way out. Nothing else stood out to me as we made our way to the third building.

"Nya nyaaan~ Welcome to Hanneko's Super Special Awesome Cooking Class~" said Hanneko after we all gathered in the kitchen classroom. I don't fucking believe it. I glanced at Luka, who looked like he was holding back a laugh.

"Are you serious?" Jay asked.

"Yep. Since your cook kinda died, I figured you losers might want some help. Plus, we haven't done anything as a class in a while. I'm gettin' bored," said Hanneko.

"Hey! Ko-chan wasn't just our cook," said Bunpei. "I won't tolerate anyone talking bad about her!"

"Agreed," said Kotaka. "And if that's the sole purpose of this, I'll learn to cook. Let the others leave."

"Nyo freakin' way, toots," said Hanneko. "You're all staying here for the next few hours while we learn to maaaake… cupcakes!"

"Uh, we kinda can't survive on just cupcakes," said Irina. Back to normal again…

"Ugh. I'm going to teach your bastards to make other stuff," said Hanneko. "But for now, you guys can have cupcakes for lunch~ Doesn't that sound great?"

"There are actually several reasons why that doesn't sound great," said Yasushi.

"Yeah, just shut it. Cupcakes for lunch! If you don't like it, get something when you're done here. Now, wash your hands and pair off. There are six stations for you all to use, so one of you losers is working alone," said Hanneko.

We spent the last few hours learning how to make cupcakes. I literally could not think of a more pointless way to spend my time here. To make it easy on us, we just paired off with our partners that we're supposed to check in on, so Luka kind of wound up alone. Something's telling me that it would have ended up that way anyway... Anyway, by the end of it, the room was covered in flour and it was a huge mess. Somehow only two groups were able to successfully make edible cupcakes (that would be Bunpei and Yasushi as well as Neko and Nezumi, in case you were wondering). After we finished, Hanneko made us stay to clean up and told us that we'd be meeting here again tomorrow at noon. Is he trying to keep us busy or something? Really, this is pointless.

After we all finished cleaning the flour off the floors, we all went to do whatever. Tougo, Jay, and Neko kept Irina in the Research building's library, Bunpei, Yasushi, and Kotaka hung out in the Rec building, Luka appears to be in his room, and I followed Nezumi and Tobiki around the Fine Arts building. Like Nezumi said, there are several studios and rooms with a bunch of fancy shmancy stuff. Nothing to really keep me interested. Dinner that day wound up being uneventful, and I returned to my room to rest for a while and look at those files a bit more. I opened a drawer by my desk, where I placed them. Looks like there are seven of them total. I leafed through the pages on Class Eighty, reading up about my classmates. More than half of these were still crossed out. I read through Tougo's files, hoping it'd give me a clue or help confirm or deny my suspicions. Next, I read through Luka's files—

Wait. If these are supposed to be files of New Hope's Peak students for this batch, then why does Luka also have a file? Also, some of the files are missing. I separated the ones with exes of those that died here from the files on students I didn't recognize. That makes up six of them. I then looked through all the ones without the pink exes. I recognized all of them as the ones that were stuck here with me…. Where's my file? Along with mine, Nezumi's file was missing…

I grew worried. Why isn't Nezumi's file here? She's a student of New Hope's Peak, so where's her file? This is all of them… Right? She is a student here… Isn't she? Furthermore, where the hell's my file?

I somehow feel like I've learned a lot, yet managed to learn absolutely nothing. The thoughts on who Mouse is, how long we've been here, how we're going to help Irina, and what exactly I was feeling when I realized she fell into despair—

"Hey, you bastards!" Wha? I almost fell asleep there…

"One of you losers stole something from me in the daytime, and I want it back! If you're the thief, you should know where to bring it. I'll ask no questions as to who it is, and there will be no penalty if it's back where it was by tomorrow morning," said Hanneko over the announcements system. What the hell?

I got a message on my ElectroID a few minutes later.

* * *

><p>Message from Tougo Hanai, received 6:23 p.m.<p>

You know who did it. Come to the library.

* * *

><p>That was the message I received from Tougo after the announcement. I went there, but I decided to take my time about it. I found him looking at a book about stress when I walked in.<p>

"Yo, Glasses," I said. "I'm gonna need you to not try to send me cryptic messages when I'm tired." He scoffed at me.

"I think we might have a minor problem," said Tougo.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Did you listen to the announcement?" Tougo asked.

"Kinda," I said. "Someone stole something from Hanneko."

"Basically, yes," he said.

"Why's that a problem? Couldn't it be helpful?"

"Think. Hanneko used some careful word choices in that announcement. He told the thief that he knew where to leave it, but didn't at all express where that could be. That could only mean it's in one place."

"Hm… What do you—ooooohh, I know what you mean," I said. It must have been in the office.

"Exactly. Did you go to the office today?"

"No…"

"Okay. Then it wasn't you."

"Huh?"

"Again, it's in the word choice," said Tougo. "Hanneko said that what was taken was taken today during the daytime. You and I didn't go in the office, and I'm almost certain the spy didn't go there, either."

"Uh… okay." I'm still not sure where he's going with this.

"Anyway, Hanneko would have realized long before now that those files were missing. Now that I think about how obvious they were, I'm starting to think he wanted someone to get to them..."

"So… I don't get it."

"Think, Nakauchi. The thief took just one thing from Hanneko's office in the span of eleven hours. Luka, you, and I were in there before those eleven hours started. What could that possibly mean?"

"Uh… the way you're making it sound, this thief isn't one of us, so someone else knows about the office…"

"Yes. One more thing about that announcement; did you notice how Hanneko didn't call the thief by name?"

"Huh? I guess so. What does that have to do with it?"

"He's had no problems revealing secrets about anyone before. Why is he trying to conceal this person's identity?"

"Concealed… Identity?"

"Yes. There are few people that had aspects of their identities hidden here. Assuming he knows exactly who it is, who would fit under the category of hidden identity and clever thief? After you've figured that out, tell me what that means."

"Hm… Then… that means that…" I thought about it for a while. I'm a bit ashamed that I didn't figure it out earlier. "Mouse knows about the office!"

"Exactly. Now, whether that's a good thing or not, I can't tell. But so far, the people I'm certain know about the office are you, me, Luka, the mastermind, and Mouse."

"But… then… wouldn't Mouse be one of our allies?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure exactly what Mouse is trying to do, but the fact that he hasn't come out about having this important thing that Hanneko needs is leading me to believe otherwise. Also, there's the fact that Mouse wasn't called out. That's leading me to believe there's a good chance that Mouse has a connection to the mastermind."

"Well… Maybe he wanted to tell us, but being called out is stopping him… Since we're probably not the only ones who came to the conclusion that the thief is Mouse…"

After saying this, Nezumi arrived in the library.

"Ah, I didn't know you guys were here," she said. "Whatcha doin'?"

Tougo looked at her for half a second, then looked back into his book. "We're trying to figure out how to help Irina," said Tougo, not looking up from his book. Wha? Why didn't he tell her the truth? Nezumi narrowed her eyes at him as if she knew something else was up. She then smiled.

"Alright," she said with a grin. "I'm glad you two are getting along better!" She winked, then left. Why'd she come here just to leave?

"Well, that should tell you enough, investigator," said Tougo. "Figure out what all of this means, and help find a way out of this situation. I'm leaving."

With that, he left, taking the book he was carrying with him. I suddenly remembered Nezumi's test from last night. Just now, he didn't look at Nezumi at all. Hm… So that's how Nezumi knew… I still can't say my suspicions of him have shaken.

But if he were the mastermind, why would he be trying to help out so much? Actually, how do I know he's even helping? He could be misinforming all of us, and he figures most of this stuff on his own… Plus, his hair color matches Hanneko's blue half a bit… On my way to my room, question after question appeared about whether I should trust him or not…

I sighed as I unlocked my door and jumped on my bed. I'm tired of this trust and distrust game. Can I trust Tougo, who seems to be helping find hints? Luka, who doesn't seem to want conflict but doesn't mind causing it? Kotaka, who decided to take leadership over us, but can't see when something's really wrong? Yasushi, who tends to hide in the shadows and who tries to keep problems from arising? Nezumi, who decided that even someone with no redeeming qualities was worthy of being friends with? Irina, whose beauty and playfulness hid a dark, new persona? Jay, who only wants the best for her friends? Tobiki, who's learning to trust again after having his trust shattered by his closest friend? Can I even trust Bunpei, the flirty athlete? What about Neko, the adamant and blissfully oblivious fangirl? How do I know one of them isn't planning on killing me? Why should I believe one person is more likely to be the mastermind over the other? If someone seems to want to be our friend, does that only mean that they're trying to get rid of us and escape?

Thank goodness a message was received and my ElectroID went off. I'd probably end up paranoid or depressed (or both) if I kept thinking about this distrust game.

_For only 29.99, you can own this entire cosmetic kit!_ That's almost stereotypically silly, even considering how all the other notification sounds went. I checked the message Jay left for me.

* * *

><p>Message from Jay Caraway, received 7:17 p.m.<p>

Yo, Rin. You okay?

* * *

><p>I responded saying that I was fine. A few minutes later, I got another message.<p>

* * *

><p>Message from Jay Caraway, received 7:21 p.m.<p>

You sure? Your name disappeared and reappeared late last night.

* * *

><p>Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not dead, so I didn't feel too worried, but that's odd… I asked her when she noticed it happening. She replied saying that it was pretty late last night, probably past midnight. Another new clue. I guess that any person in the office wouldn't register on the ElectroID maps, keeping it secret. I said okay, then asked how Irina was. She replied saying that she was fine. She stopped going on about despair. That's good. The conversation must have ended after that, and the last thing I remembered was falling asleep.<p> 


	16. Chapter Four: It Gets Worse

_Spring. The sun shines where the cherry blossom leaves don't obstruct its rays. Though the first day of school has ended, most of the students are still talking and goofing off around the campus, waiting for whoever to bring them home. Probably. That's the situation most of them are in._

_The entrance ceremony yesterday wasn't particularly interesting. The new Super High School Levels were introduced, and two kids that had top scores in their middle school classes were designated as class representatives. One of them was a serious-looking girl with long white hair. The other was a tall boy with short blue hair and glasses. For some reason, the glasses stuck out the most to me. Hm... I guess they had to go with middle school grades on this. The old Hope's Peak didn't use entrance exams, and I guess this one doesn't, either, considering I haven't taken one. That was kinda a relief, really._

_After the ceremony, a girl with black hair greeted me. She said something along the lines of "are you wearing the right uniform?" or something like that. Though, she wasn't quite as rude as I made her sound. Oops. _

_Where am I? Oh, right. The gates. Spring. Cherry blossom leaves blowing in the wind and stuff. I looked by one of the brick columns of the gates. Three girls stood and smiled together, posing for a picture being made by a red-haired photographer. The one in the middle with a silly kitten hat seemed the happiest. On one side of her was a familiar face. She must be that model that everyone at my school used to talk about. The one with the pretty black hair and the long legs, and the weird Russian name..._

_On the opposite side, by the other column, the kid with glasses from the entrance ceremony stood and stared at his phone. He looked somewhat lonely... Maybe I could speak to him. We could erase each other's mutual loneliness._

_Hm... Nah. He's probably really smart, so he wouldn't want to talk to some average idiot like me. He'd probably think-_

_"BIG BROOOOTHEEER!"_

_Suddenly, the boy with the glasses was jumped on by a bespectacled middle school girl. I recognized the uniform as the one belonging to one of the most prestigious schools in the region. It's close to where I live, but I didn't go there. Wasn't smart enough._

_The boy with the glasses stared at the girl. "Ichigo? What are you doing here? Where's Sango?" Glasses boy asked question after question. The girl (who I'm assuming is named Ichigo) giggled._

_"Calm down. I told her I was coming here to visit you, and I'd be home by six," said Ichigo. "I wanted to see the school! It's so big!" She looked up at the building towering before her._

_"So, where are the dorms? Are they co-ed? Are you sharing one with a girl? Is she cute? If so, remember mom says you can't have kids until you have a stable job," said Ichigo. Glasses looked embarrassed. _

_"Please stop talking," said Glasses. "Besides, there are no dorms here. I'm assuming it's to help the school save money. They had monetary troubles in the past."_

_Right. This school is funded by the government, but it can't spend too much. Students from too far away either room with closer students or stay in a special hotel made for the situation._

_"Aww. Well, that's kinda boring," said Ichigo. She then looked around at the other students. The pretty model girl caught her attention._

_"Hey," she began loudly. "Isn't that the model you have a poster of hanging in your room?"_

_The boy was very visibly embarrassed. This managed to catch the model girl's attention. The girls talking to the model giggled._

_"Stop that," said Glasses. "And that poster's only in my room because you keep putting it there!"_

_Ichigo giggled. "Hehe, guilty as charged," she said. "You know, my friends say I kinda look like her!"_

_With that, the girl removed her glasses and dramatically flipped her hair. She wasn't lying. Without the glasses, Ichigo did look extremely similarly to the model. As she did this, the model gracefully walked toward the siblings. She looked at the girl._

_"Hm... You're really cute~" said the model to Ichigo. She then looked up at the boy. "So, I'm guessing this girl is your sister?"_

_"Yep! I'm a huge fan of yours and your Songdroid, Miyu Ichioto!" Ichigo said excitedly. The model laughed. Glasses sighed, then bowed slightly._

_"I'm sorry for the rude comments she keeps making," he said._

_"It's fine," said the model. She then stuck out her hand. "You might have already known, but my name's Irina. You're the class rep, right? You must be really smart," said Irina._

_The boy took it nervously. "Yeah, I guess I'm one of them. I'm Tougo Hanai," he said._

_"Nice to meet you, Tougo-kun," said Irina. She's already using his given name? "Also, about that poster..."_

_Glasses became even more nervous, if that's possible. "Yeah, my sister keeps putting it in my room, but I always have to take it down," he said._

_"Aww," said Irina. "My feelings are slightly hurt."_

_"Oh! I mean," began Glasses. "I didn't mean to say that like that! It's not like I wouldn't want to see you, because you're very pretty- no, wait, that sounds bad- not that you being pretty is a bad thing, but that-"_

_"Hehe, I'm just kidding," said Irina. "I understand."_

_Glasses sighed. He's very obviously embarrassed. What a dork. _

_"Aaaah! Do I sense a new OTP forming? Shall we become part of a slice of life romantic comedy?" The blonde girl with the kitten hat began spouting some sort of nonsense. At that point, I realized I had been staring at them for a while. I have no chance trying to be his friend, now. Friends with other friends kinda don't work out with me..._

_I turned to go back towards the school. Maybe I can see if there's some club I'd want to join. I sighed when I entered the school. Inside the school were more groups of friends. How did they do it?_

_"You feel alone, don't you?" Huh? Who was that?_

_"You probably feel like you don't belong here. It's okay. I'm the exact same way. If you don't have an interesting talent, the others ignore you. It's especially bad for lucksters." For some reason, I wasn't as fascinated with who was speaking as much as what they were saying._

_"What you feel... Would you say it's something like despair?"_

* * *

><p>Well, that was a weird freaking dream. Why did it feel like I was watching some weird romantic comedy? I kinda hate those. And why does it feel so… familiar? It felt so real, too…<p>

I woke up at a time that was probably past the nighttime announcement. Wait… For some reason, there was a nagging feeling at the back of my head. Was there somewhere I was supposed to be now?

Nah, it's not possible. After all, that'd kinda violate Kotaka's rule...

Anyway, that was odd. I don't remember ever being so depressed as I felt in that dream. It was almost too real to be a dream, honestly. No weird things happened like they normally did in dreams. It felt more like I was living out some kind of memory, except I don't remember that ever happening… It couldn't be a memory…

I tried to fall back asleep, but couldn't. Hm… Oh, well. I could probably read through those files some more… Or… I could go back to the office... I might find out more about who's keeping us here in there as opposed to in the files. I got up to leave my room and slowly opened my door as I peered into the hallway. No one seems to be out, so I walked to the library without worrying about being caught. Wasting no time, I opened the door, prepared to go in the direction I remember seeing the lamp, but I was surprised to see that the room's features were already visible. Looking around, I was shocked to see Nezumi in the library as well. She was standing by the column as she greeted me.

"Oh, hey, Rin-chan," said Nezumi with a wave and a concealing smile. I want to think nothing of it, but something's incredibly suspicious about it. I noticed something glinting in her hands as she waved.

"Hiya, Nezumi," I said. "What was that in your hand?"

Nezumi's face hardened for half a second, but returned back to how it normally would be. "Oh, just my door key," she said. "Anyway, why'd you miss Kotaka-san's meeting?"

Huh? Kotaka had a meeting? "I don't remember hearing about it," I said.

"That's odd," she said. "You were there for her meeting earlier, and she announced that there'd be one."

"That is odd," I agreed. "Maybe I just forgot."

Nezumi giggled. "Ah, you didn't miss much," she said. "We didn't make much progress. Kotaka-san accused Tougo-kun of hiding something, they wound up in an argument, and Tougo-kun dismissed himself. The meeting ended not long ago."

"Oh," I said. God damn it. Now we have to deal with those two arguing.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm afraid. I can't trust that all of the people that would cause conflict are gone now, and I'm afraid we'll lose more people…" Nezumi frowned.

"I know what you mean," I said. "But we need to keep cool and try to avoid serious disagreements. We need to remember our goals."

"Taking down the mastermind and getting out of here?"

"Exactly. We're definitely getting out of here!" Whoa. Got kinda excited there.

Nezumi sighed. "I want to believe that," she said. "But still. The more I think about it, the more it seems like Iririn has a point. Maybe we should try to stay here. Whether someone comes for us or not, we'll still be safe, right?"

"Nezumi," I said. "We'll never be safe here. There's always the looming threat of someone betraying us. There's always going to be a Hanneko if we don't do something about that." I said all of this, but something deep inside me felt like I was lying. Staying here in peace isn't such a bad idea…

In any case, my words seemed to get through to her. "You're right," said Nezumi. "Sorry for being so depressing."

"It's okay," I said. "But can I ask you a question?"

Nezumi nodded. "Sure!"

"Why are you still here?"

I managed to accidentally catch her off guard. "Uh… I just…" she began, but then placed her index finger in front of her lips. "That's a secret," she said. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Anyway, why are _you_ here?" Nezumi asked. Oddly enough, I didn't expect such a question. I tried to make something up…

"Uh… that's a good question," I said. "I wonder why I came here. Hm… Maybe just being slightly rebellious."

"Haha! Well, be sure to get back to your room. Kotaka-san might be checking to see if anyone's breaking rules," said Nezumi.

"Right. Later," I said with a wave. She waved at me as I left the minor library. It was only after I had reached my room that I realized something was wrong.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I prepared for the day and went to check in on Irina before Kotaka's meeting. Surprisingly, Jay wasn't there when I reached them. Neko and Tougo were there. Neko helped braid Irina's hair as Tougo read at her desk.<p>

"You have such pretty hair! It's so long and shiny," said Neko.

"Thank you," said Irina. "It's kinda a pain to braid it myself, so thanks again for helping."

"No problem!" Neko exclaimed. "It's fun! Also, you shouldn't wear your glasses today. You look so much prettier without them!"

"Uh… I kinda need them to see," said Irina.

"Hmph. Fine. I guess that's important," said Neko.

"Uh, I think being able to see would be more important than looking 'pretty'," said Tougo. Neko looked at him, then smirked.

"Hehehe," she said. "Don't pretend you don't want to see Iri-chan at her prettiest! Plus, I'm sure she can see fine without them." Tougo sighed.

"Whether she wears her glasses or not, her face would look exactly the same," he said. "I think she'd be more comfortable with being able to see."

"Speaking of the ability to see," I said. "How's it goin', Glasses?"

"I've asked you several times not to call me that," said Tougo irritatedly. Hehe.

I walked over to the desk and sat on top of it, making sure not to get in Tougo's way. "Anyway, where's Jay?" I asked.

"She'd been with Irina the entire day yesterday, so she asked for a break until tonight," said Tougo. "She should be with Ido right now, from what she told me."

As he mentioned Kotaka's name, we each received a message from her.

* * *

><p>Message from Kotaka Ido, received at 7:24 a.m.<p>

Meeting moved to 9.

* * *

><p>Received at 7:24. Huh. That's odd. Maybe it has something to do with what she and Jay are doing.<p>

"Heh. Now we can spend more time making you look even prettier, Iri-chan!" Neko exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure she's already pretty enough," said a new voice. Jay stood in the doorway and greeted us. She had a slightly long piece of thin, white string caught on her jacket. "You guys should make sure to close and lock the doors, by the way."

"Jay-chin~" said Neko. She stood up and ran with arms outstretched. I figured she was just planning on hugging her, but then Neko appeared to prepare to make a leap. Jay stepped forward into the room and out of Neko's way, who wound up landing on the floor.

"Anyway, just came to check in on you guys. Leavin' an unstable girl with her hyperactive perverted friend and the guy with an obvious crush on her didn' sit too well for a while, but looks like you guys are doin' good," she said. "Though, that may be because Rin's here."

Tougo sighed. "I already told you I don't have a crush on Irina," he said.

"Yeah, okay," said Jay, as if to make it obvious that she didn't believe him. I didn't either.

_"Anyway, you asked us to leave the door unlocked in case you wanted to come back. And if you are going to stand there and insult us, you may as well check on that idiot,"_ said Tougo while pointing at Neko. He must have been speaking English, because I didn't recognize a word he said.

_"Hmph. Oh, yeah, I did say that. And don' tell me what to do,"_ said Jay in what I assume is the same language. She seemed slightly miffed as she went to pick up Neko.

"I feel like I'm being left out of some sort of secret," said Irina.

"Probably nothing to do with us," I said.

As Jay walked back in with Neko, the piece of string on her jacket caught my attention again.

"Yo, Jay," I said. "You have a piece of string on your jacket."

Jay looked at her jacket and tried to find it. "Oh," she said once she caught it. "That's not string."

"Then… what is it?"

Jay looked at me and winked. "That's a surprise for now," she said. "Which reminds me, I'm goin' back now. Laters."

She left after making sure Neko was seated on the bed and not planning on tackling her again. Tougo continued reading, and Neko continued playing with Irina's hair. So… in other words, I got bored sitting there.

"Well, I guess I'll leave, too," I said. I turned to Irina. "You doing okay, Irina?"

Irina looked at me and grinned. "Huhu, don't worry about me, Rin-kun. I'm okay," she said reassuringly. Something seemed off about those words, but I decided to trust her. I was almost out the door when I was spoken to once again.

"Don't go off to unfamiliar places without someone with you, investigator," said Tougo. Hm… I guess he found out about me going out last night. I turned to look at him.

"Okay," I said. "Only if you'll stop being a creeper, Glasses." Irina and Neko giggled, and Tougo turned slightly pink. I'm not sure if it was in embarrassment or anger, and his facial expression didn't do too much to help me figure out.

"I'm not a creeper," mumbled Tougo. I was barely able to hear him. As I left, I made sure to close the door, and I stopped to think about what I should do. Embarrassingly, the rumbling in my stomach told me almost immediately. _Hm… It'll probably be fine if someone like me broke the kitchen rule,_ I thought mischievously. After all, I wasn't planning on killing anyone. After reaching the kitchen (making sure not to get caught by Kotaka by leaving my ElectroID in the cafeteria), I quickly ran in to get some fruits and whatever else I might have wanted to eat. As I walked out, I saw Nezumi standing in the cafeteria. Judging from her surprised expression, it looked like she was on her way to the kitchen as well…

"I won't tell if you won't," she said with a giggle.

"Deal," I said as I left, making sure to pick up my ElectroID. I didn't make it too far before I saw Nezumi leaving. She had a glass jar in her hands. I couldn't tell, but it looked like the contents of it were brown.

"Later," she said before speeding off towards the dorms.

"Later," I called out to her. I decided to go back to my room after meandering around this building for about 15 minutes. Right now, it's close to 8:00. I still have about an hour to do nothing. Or, that's what I thought. Within a few minutes, I checked my ElectroID to see who I could talk to. About fifteen minutes ago, I received a message from Yasushi.

* * *

><p>Message from Yasushi Sugihara, received 7:43<p>

Pool.

* * *

><p>That's all it says. Pool. Pool… Oh, no.<p>

I dashed out of my bedroom and ran to find the hallway to the rec building. On the way, I ran into Nezumi. Oddly enough, she had changed outfits. Her hair looked like it had been doused with water, but the rest of her was dry.

"Nezumi!" I shouted. "Come with me to the pool. It's an emergency."

"Uh… Okay," said Nezumi. As we ran to that building, she explained that she had just taken a shower and washed her hair. I believed her, since I smelled some weird fruit scent around her. We got to the second building and ran to the top floor. I also heard rapid squeaking noises on the way. I had assumed that Nezumi accidentally got her shoes wet somehow.

"So, what's up?" Nezumi asked me on the way there.

"I don't know," I said. "Sugihara-kun just sent a message saying 'pool', and that was it."

"Then… What if it's a trap?" Nezumi stopped.

Hm… I hadn't considered that. But… I trust Yasushi. He wouldn't lead us into a trap…

"I don't think it's a trap," I said decisively. We reached the top floor and turned towards the doorway leading to the pool. Preparing for the worst, I watched as Nezumi turned the knob and opened the door. Even with all my mental preparation, I was shocked at what I had seen.


	17. Chapter Four: A Disturbing Twist

I stood and stared at the lifeless form in the pool. In the pool was a body doing what could only be described as the aptly named dead man's float. The well-dressed form of Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov lay limp in the water.

"Aagh!" Nezumi shouted. "Ru-kun?!"

She went to the closet at the opposite end of the pool. With a pole in her hand, she ran to a place where she could easily pull Luka out if he tried to grab the pole. He didn't try to grab the pole.

"Hey, did you guys get a message from..." Jay walked in, but her question was cut short when she spotted Luka...

"Pin pon pan pooooon! Yep, you guessed it. This is a Corpse Discovery Announcement! I would tell you where to go, but it seems like someone already took care of that. Check your ElectroIDs in a couple of minutes, though this shouldn't be that hard to figure out." The announcement that no one wanted to hear was made.

Jay began shouting in English as she prepared to jump in the pool.

"_No!_" She swam to Luka's body and grabbed him by the jacket. Swimming quickly, she soon dragged him to the edge of the pool and pulled him out. He was now lying on the concrete floor.

"_Wake up, damn you!_" She pushed down on his chest and placed her ear to his lips, trying to listen for any breathing.

"_Please! Don't put us through this again!_" She stopped pushing and laid her head on his chest face-down. It looks like she began to cry.

"Poor Jay," said a new voice. Neko arrived, along with Irina, Tougo, and Tobiki. It seems like a few of us are missing...

"I'll... go find the others," said Nezumi. She looked around to see who was missing. "Kotaka-san, Sugihara-kun, and Bun-kun," she said to herself. She then left quickly, pushing past everyone that had arrived.

"So," said Neko. "Who's going to watch out here?"

"Do we even need anyone to watch?" Jay stepped away from Luka's body. "We already know who did it. He led us all here, and now he's trying to hide. The culprit is obviously that diplomat!"

"Uh, Caraway-san," said Tobiki. "I don't think we should jump to conclusions just yet. Besides, it doesn't make sense that he would lead us to his victim himself..."

"Still," said Jay. "That's extremely suspicious to me. Anyway, do we really need a lookout here? There's not much clues besides Luka..."

"There are a few," said Tougo. "For that matter, Irina and I will stay here."

"Ha! It'll be like with the first case," said Irina. Why does she seem so excited about this?

"Hm... fine. But why have Irina guard here?" Jay asked. "Neko and I—"

"Neko-_chan_."

"…Right. We can take care of her," she finished.

"I know you're capable, but are you sure you want an unstable girl in your care while you try to investigate?" Tougo asked. "I'll be sure to make sure she doesn't mess with any clues."

Jay thought for a moment. "Fine," she said. "I'm off."

Jay left. Tobiki left soon after her. Okay. Time to do this again. I looked around the room, but nothing stood out to me immediately. Tougo had Irina sit high up on the bleachers. I decided to look at Luka. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that his nose was broken, and he had a couple of small bruises. Now, how could that have happened?

"There are footprints," said Tougo.

"Duh," I said. "Jay pulled Luka out of the water. Those are probably hers."

"Not those," said Tougo. "I'm talking about the ones next to them."

Huh? There were lighter spots on the ground. They were like footprints that had dried a little bit, plus other traces of water that were close to drying.

"So," I said. "That means the killer must have fallen into the water… Judging from Luka's face, he and the killer probably got in a fight. He must have been overpowered."

"Kya! You guys are so cool," said Irina. Tougo sighed.

"That dumbass," he said.

"Huh? Who are you talking about?" I asked.

"Luka," he said, then turned to face me. "I think I have a good idea who the killer may be."

That was fast. "Who?" I asked.

"Not telling," he said. "It's too early for any kind of bias. Plus, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Hmph. "That's not the issue here," I said. "I need to know who you suspect and why."

"Fine," he said. "The person I suspect is… Mouse. Now, go get Luka's notebook."

"Asshole," I mumbled. Still, Luka's notebook may hold a clue. I should go look for it. And why the hell would he just leave it at "Mouse"? As if I know who the hell that is. Anyway, I went to look for Luka's room.

Wait. If he's a seventeenth student, then where would he be staying? There are only sixteen rooms…

"Hanneko," I called. Soon afterwards, the stupid cat doll appeared before me.

"You rang?" he asked tauntingly.

"Where was Luka staying?" I asked.

"Nyan," he said. "I had to put him in the least lived-in room. It's a good thing its former occupant had no real sense of decoration. Hell, he didn't even spend ten minutes in there."

I sighed. "I got it, I got it. Thanks," I said. Quickly, I ran away from him and towards Shinobu's room. Or, Luka's room. Surprisingly, the door was open. It felt kinda weird going through Luka's things. I felt guilty about invading his privacy, then I realized his privacy probably included the invasion of our privacy. Without further hesitation, I looked through the drawers in his desk and found nothing.

Huh? Shouldn't there be something like a notebook somewhere around here? I checked under the bed, in the closet, in the bathroom, and I still found nothing. Where could it be?! Wait…Is it possible that the culprit took it? Nah… how would it help them? It'd be written in Russian… There's only one person here that would even understand it… Speaking of which, where is she? I checked my ElectroID and looked for Nezumi's name. Oddly enough, I couldn't find it… Then… she must have somehow found out about the office… Yeah, the names disappear in there… that must be it…

Quickly, I ran to the office. I didn't see anyone along the way, so I assumed they were all in the second building investigating. Before I realized it, I was in the library looking for Nezumi. I went to the column and pushed the beige brick. After a minute, the elevator opened to reveal someone lying on the ground. Isn't it ironic how the person you want to see the most could become the one you'd want to see the least within a few seconds?

"Pin pon pan poooooon! I'm kinda liking this new bell. Anyway, the death toll has come to two! What a twist! Check your ElectroIDs in a few minutes. This is getting interesting!"

…. No…. It can't be… Nezumi is…? Impossible! Nezumi… Then, who saw her before this?… I have to go to the office. That Hanneko door… Could it have the secret to how Hanneko knows the culprits in these crimes?

I tried not to look at Nezumi as the elevator ascended. I knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to go forward. Ignoring the side rooms as I walked down the hallway, I went straight for the office that had Hanneko's face on it. Opening the door, I ran straight for the door. I slid away the white door and pushed on the blue one. Then I pulled it. Then I kicked it. Then I looked for some sort of number pad. Nothing! I couldn't open the door at all… I slumped down to the ground in defeat. That door… It's definitely important… How can I open it…? I sat there for a while. The one thing to pull me out of my reverie was a loud _ding_ noise. Even then, I didn't get up. A few seconds later, I heard the office door slam open.

"Nakauchi! Just what the hell are you doing?!" The unusually loud voice of Tougo managed to snap me out of my slump.

"That door…" I said. He sighed and tried to pick me up.

"Come on," he said. "We have an emergency and no time to waste." We both left the office and ran down the hallway. Along the way, I noticed a few pieces of white string on the floor.

"Glasses, wait," I said. I crouched down to pick the strings up.

"What now?" Tougo said irritatedly. He then crouched down facing me and looked to see what caught my attention.

"This… Didn't Jay have something like this caught on her jacket earlier?" Tougo asked. I nodded. This is definitely important. Was Jay in here? She must have some important information in this case…

"Come on," said Tougo. "We have to go now."

"Jeez, Glasses, just what's so important?" I asked as we entered the elevator. Tougo took the liberty of pushing the button that closed the door. Once we descended, I realized something was wrong.

"Where's Nezumi?" I asked, looking at him. Tougo didn't look at me. Instead, he looked downward.

"You'll see," he said. Once the door opened, I realized what he meant. Bunpei and Kotaka had entered the library. Both stood in shock at the sight of Nezumi, lying amidst a pile of books next to an empty shelf. Her legs were bleeding.

"Pin pon pan pooooon! Wow, this is getting really exciting! THREE! That's how many of you have died so far! Check your ElectroIDs in a couple of minutes. Since we have such a high number unexpectedly, I'll give you hopeless losers a little bit more time to snoop around and try to figure out what the hell is going on! Nyaa! This is getting good!"

… Three? Who else could have died? And… Why was Nezumi here? Someone must have moved her… I checked my ElectroID to look for whoever else must have died… Of all the names I could recall, I couldn't find Yasushi's name…

"Where's Sugihara-kun?" I asked.

"He's… In the cafeteria," said Bunpei.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait," I said. "Isn't there some sort of rule being broken?"

"The one about no culprit murdering more than two people?" Neko came in to answer my question. "If so, then yes. There's definitely a rule being violated here. But Hanneko hasn't done anything, so I'm guessing that the rule… Hasn't been violated?"

Something else off. Neko seems to be taking this case seriously. This is definitely more serious than before.

"Neko," said Tougo. "Where's Irina? I left her with you."

"Calm down," said Neko. "She's right outside."

"Okay," said Tougo. "Nakauchi, investigate here. I've got somewhere to go." He left me here, with Bunpei and Kotaka. She… seems different somehow…

"Ido-san… Did you cut your hair?" I asked. She didn't answer, then walked out of the library. I guess that was kind of an obvious question… Her hair was noticeably shorter, going from passing her hips to barely passing her chin.

"That was kinda rude," said Bunpei.

"Don't blame her," I said. "She's probably upset because of all these murders… Plus, Sugihara-kun…"

Bunpei looked at me, then nodded. "I guess you're right," he said. "Now, let's get to work. We definitely need to find out who did this! For Nezu-chan and Yasu-kun's sakes!"

He's right. Standing and sulking isn't going to get anything done. I pointed out how the books were scattered around her, and Bunpei told me that he and Kotaka had lifted the bookshelf off of her. Bunpei again pointed out that it looked like her shoes were wet. Tougo walked back in after a couple of minutes.

"Nakauchi, there's something I forgot," he said. "Search Karafuto's body."

I sighed. "Fine, fine," I said. I looked more closely to see what I could find. Her face had bruises as well…

"That's not what I meant," said Tougo. Then… what does he mean?

"Furuda, let's leave," said Tougo. Bunpei complied… I think I know what they mean…

"Whoa, wait," I said. "Can't you get someone else to do this?! Like Neko or Ido-san? Or even Irina?!"

"They're all busy elsewhere," he called to me before walking out. Oh, God. This is going to be uncomfortable. Still, there must be some reason behind this. I just hope no one walks in on this. I removed the white jacket she wore, then lifted her shirt to reveal her stomach. There were bruises on her arms, but none on her abdomen that I could see. Besides some small bruises, her hands were clean. She must have been in a fight with someone…

"Okay, I've seen enough," I said to myself. She wore shorts, so it was clear that there were no obvious bruises on her legs, but that could be due to the blood… They were bent pretty oddly… Whoever did this had to be strong enough to break her bones.

Not wanting to stay in there much longer, I left, making mental notes of everything I found out. Trying not to waste time, I went to the cafeteria. Once I arrived, I immediately noticed Yasushi's body. He sat in a seat as if he were preparing to eat a meal, but his face was lain down on the table, swollen and red. I wouldn't have recognized him if no one told me who he was. Neko and Tobiki were also here. Tobiki handed her a piece of paper.

"Arigatou," she said as she took the paper. She read over it. "Just as I thought! Yasu-chan died of anaphylaxis."

Yasu-chan? That's so unfitting… But anaphylaxis. She must be looking at the list that Ko made about allergies…

"Hey, Nakauchi-san," said Tobiki. "There was a jar of peanuts here, but I think someone took it. He had it in his hands."

"Huh? Jar of peanuts?" I asked. If I remember correctly, Yasushi was allergic to peanuts. Why would he try to eat them?

_He obviously didn't try to eat them. He was forced._

… That was odd. I thought that. But… It felt like…

I sighed. At least I came up with the right answer… I think. But… that went over pretty quickly. Is there something I'm missing? There might be something I'm forgetting…

"Also," said Tobiki. "There was a note found in his pocket." He handed me the note to read.

_To everyone... I apologize for the sins I have committed in this life, for the hearts broken, and for the expectations shattered. Even in Death, I hope you guys can survive past these trials. I'm done fooling you all with my happy mask of lies. And to the Mastermind... While you have broken my spirit, you shall not overcome the powers of hope within my classmates! Now that I really know and remember how good Rin-chan was as an investigator, I know that you will fall!_

... Just what the hell was that? That was unexpectedly dramatic of him. Then again, I never really knew him too well...

"So... Do you think it's a suicide note?" Tobiki asked. I'm not sure what to think. I guess it makes sense, sorta. Yasushi would have broken the three people rule, but Hanneko can't do anything to him if he's dead... But...

"I don't know," I said. "But if it's the real deal, we've got this case all wrapped up."

"Nya, I guess so," said Neko. "Kedo, this seems kinda weird. Yasu-chan was always so happy, even though he was kinda mysterious... I guess you never know. Looks like we're done here."

I... guess we are done here. The trial must just be some sort of formality. I wondered if there was anything I was forgetting. Now that I think about it, there isn't really...

The notebook! I completely forgot about it! It wasn't with Nezumi, or in Luka's room, or in the office, or even with Yasushi… I guess I'll have to give up on the search for it, but what now?

"Rin-tan," said Neko. "What clues have you found?"

Hm… Should I really go over clues with Neko? Even though she's not on my list of prime suspects, I can't really trust anybody now… But even if she is, telling her what all I found wouldn't help her, would it?

I decided to trust her. "Okay," I said. "First of all, Luka. He was bruised, as if he had been assaulted, and he was still dressed." We had started walking.

"Okay. Anything else?" What was up with Neko today? A seriousness that I've never seen in her appeared in her expression. Should I really tell her everything?

"Glasses seems to think Luka had a notebook, but I can't find it," I said.

"Hm? Why would he say that?" Neko asked. We continued into the gym.

"Hell if I know," I said. "There's literally no one that can read it, so it probably wouldn't help much anyway."

"Okay, I know I said I'd give you guys more time, but I'm tired of watching you bastards sit around and sulk! You have thirty more minutes to do something with yourselves, and then the trial starts."

Neko sighed at the end of Hanneko's announcement. "I doubt that they're all making absolutely no progress," she said. Right. Is Hanneko trying to speed this along or something? If he's trying to mess us up, it won't work!

_Yes it will._

… There it is again! Why is a sudden, depressing thought creeping into my mind? And why does it feel like it's not even me thinking it?

_Eventually, everyone here is going to die. It's really only a matter of time. You may have the skills and the guts to be able to solve these cases, but all that means is that you'll be helping condemn more of your friends to death. Who will it be this time? That useless runt, Tobiki Wakabayashi? That meat-headed jock, Bunpei Furuda? The bossy bitch Kotaka Ido? Oh, what if a twist happens, and the killer turns out to be that miserable lying faker, Nezumi Muon? But she's already dead… HAHAHA! It might even be that arrogant loser, Tougo Hanai. Or even the "oh-so-perfect" darling, Irina Fujimori. Hm… Am I forgetting someone? What about the nouveau-riche American idiot, Jay Caraway? Yes, she seems really suspicious, doesn't she? She was first to accuse someone else, and we did find those white strings that were on her jacket in the office, didn't we?_

"GAAAAAAH!" I yelled. Neko looked at me. I must have startled her.

"Rin-tan? Is everything okay?" Of course not.

"Yeah. I think this case is getting to me," I said. Neko stared at the floor.

"I understand," she said. We stood in silence for a while. One by one, the other students started walking in.

"Bwahaha! We're approaching trial time, where the truth behind this interesting development shall be revealed! Who killed Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov, Yasushi Sugihara, and Nezumi Karafuto! Tune in later to find out!" In a very Hanneko-esque fashion, Irina arrived, displaying her obvious excitement for the forthcoming events.

"Irina! Why do you sound so excited? It's inappropriate," said Tougo.

"Because it _is_ exciting, Tougo-kun," said Irina. "Aaaaaaand, I know we're going to make it out of this alive! I'm holding on to the hope that, despite the fact that Rin-kun's closest friend _and _the second half of our investigation team has been murdered, xe'll be able to solve this mystery and help the innocent stay alive!"

Hope? Wasn't she just going on about despair a couple of days ago? I'm pretty sure those are two opposing concepts…

"… Okay, now Iririn's starting to confuse me," said Neko. Within a few minutes, the rest of the students arrived here.

"Yo," said Bunpei. "Did anyone else find any more clues?"

"Nothing that might help," said Jay.

"Nakauchi," said Tougo. "Did you ever get Luka's notebook?" Oh, yeah. There's that.

"No," I said. "Just why is it important, anyway?"

"It's evidence," he said. I thought for a moment. Isn't it possible that Luka had it himself? Then it'd be kinda useless, since it'd be all wet…

"I already checked Luka," Tougo said. "He didn't have it."

"Okay, I'm going to need you to stop doing that," I said.

"Hmph. It's not my fault you're so easy to read," said Tougo. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"NYAA! Are you idiots done flirting yet?" Hanneko yelled from the podium.

"Ay, que no!" Irina called. "Rin-kun and Tougo-kun? Flirting?! Is my love being taken away from me?!" Yeah… Well, I'm definitely not trying to take Tougo away from her.

"There's no one here that's flirting," called a commanding female voice, catching the attention of everyone in the room. I must have overlooked the fact that Kotaka wasn't here. She walked in, speaking for the first time today. Or, this was the first time I heard her speak today. Her voice shook.

"Nyahaha," said Hanneko. "Guess now is the wrong time to bring up anything involving romance around you, huh?"

Kotaka looked at him, obviously affronted. She didn't respond. Irina spoke up.

"Uwah! Kotaka-sama, your hair looks so cute," said Irina. Kotaka narrowed her eyes at her, but didn't respond verbally.

"Nyalright," said Hanneko. "Are we all done here? Everynyan present? Are you losers fully prepared to figure this out? Well, if you're not, too bad! Step on the seal, and keep your balance!"

We all complied. Looking around, I realized that the symbol seemed to be a lot bigger…

_That's because your friends keep dying. It's only going to get roomier as this goes along._

I tried to ignore the dark thoughts that kept creeping their way into my mind. If I'm going to survive and help these guys survive, I'm going to need to concentrate and stay cool. Mouse, the missing evidence, three victims, betrayal, the office, the note. Something tells me there's more to this case than meets the eye. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with this anymore after this case.


	18. Chapter Four: The Suicide Note

**Hello! So, this chapter is pretty short (partly because I'm lazy, and partly because I wanted to split the trial into three parts), but do not worry! The next update should be coming by Friday, so I'll be working on that. Also, I realized that I only have one Free Time chapter, so by the end of the trial, can you guys please vote on who Rin should spend time with (four kids at max)? Thanks, and I hope you enjoy these next few chapters (even though they probably won't make much sense)!**

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><p>"Nya-ho~ Welcome, welcome, welcome to the courtroom and possibly the last room you'll ever see! Can you solve the mystery behind this triple-murder treat?"<p>

"You couldn't think of a better word to use than 'treat'?" I asked. As usual, I was ignored.

"Find out the horrifying truth behind the case of Nyasushi Sugihara, Luka Kamishiro-Ivanyov, and Nezu-myu Karafuto!"

"Adding random cat sounds to words isn't really cute at all," said the last person who should make a comment on that matter.

_We already know the horrifying truth behind this case. One of our "friends" and someone we all trusted betrayed us._ That's odd. I completely agree with that statement. As I waited for that familiar initiating voice, I surveyed the courtroom. It looked like we were in some kind of old library with plants growing through the shelves and the moldy books. Looking down at the floor, I saw what I could only describe as patterns you'd see if you stood underneath a glass surface of a swimming pool… Anyway, it looked like we were underwater. After observing the scene, I realized something was off and glanced at Kotaka.

We waited for Kotaka to initiate by saying something along the lines of, "Okay, let's go over what we know." She didn't. I wasn't the only one to catch on to this.

"Kotaka," said Irina. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course it's not fucking alright!" Jay yelled. "THREE PEOPLE JUST DIED! WHY ARE WE EVEN HAVING THIS TRIAL?! THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD BE THE CULPRIT HAS ALREADY DIED!"

I've never seen Jay so upset before. But she does bring up a valid point. The rules state that—

"Sore wa chigau yo!" Neko exclaimed. Now she's stealing my catch phrase? "Jay-chin, I'm not too sure that the culprit here is already dead."

"Wh-wh… What do you mean?" Jay asked. That refutation seems to have thrown her off-balance.

"The rules here state that no culprit may kill more than two people," said Neko.

"Y-yeah, I guess so," said Jay. "But if the third person committed suicide, then wouldn't there be nothing Hanneko could do about that? He'd still have this trial just to mess with us."

"She brings up a valid point," said Hanneko. "I would do something like this just to mess with you guys. Now, if you're finished discussing the culprit—"

"Slow down!" Bunpei said excitedly. "We can't just decide who the culprit is after five minutes of not really discussing anything!" That was unexpected. But he's right. We only just got here, and I'm certain not everyone has decided everything just yet.

"Right, Furuda. We should move on to discussing all that there is to discuss, shouldn't we?" Tougo said. Bunpei's lips appeared to have formed a rebuttal, but his mind soon changed.

"I… guess you're right," said Bunpei. "Sorry if what I said was about to bring us off-track."

"Don't apologize," I said to Bunpei. "I'm sure you were trying to get us on track anyway, so Glasses is the one who should apologize." Tougo ignored us.

"We should discuss the clues we all found. After most of you left the pool area, Nakauchi and I noticed a few things that seemed off," he said. "One of those details was a set of footprints made leading away from the pool."

"Wait," said Tobiki. "Jay appeared to be soaking wet when I arrived at the scene. Wouldn't those be hers?"

"I thought so, too," I said. "But there was a set of lighter footprints near hers that could only have been made earlier."

"Ah! So, those could either belong to Luka or the culprit," said Neko.

"Actually," entered Bunpei. "They could only belong to the culprit."

Huh? How could he have known that? I mean, I don't even remember seeing him go by the pool…

"Or, that's what I'm assuming going by the Monokuma File," he explained. Ah, yes. I completely forgot about that.

"Furuda-kun," I said. "Can you please explain to us what all the files said?"

"Uh… Actually," said Bunpei. "The files are pretty much useless. All three of them were sent at exactly the same time. Shortly after the second Corpse Discovery Announcement went off. And all three of them only have one or two details about each death."

"Eeeeh?! Nani kore?!" Neko exclaimed while looking at her ElectroID. "What's up with this? Nezu-chan's file says that she appears to have bruises on her arms, legs, back, and face. Yasu-chan's says that he was eating peanuts before his death, and sexy spy-kun's file says that he was unconscious shortly before his death. WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THESE RIDICULOUSLY VAGUE HINTS?!"

"Nyahaha!" Hanneko laughed. "What? Shouldn't things like these get harder as we go along? If I reveal everything to you all now, that'll only make it easier for you to find out. Besides, these cases are super easy, so you don't even really need the files."

I stood there in a stunned silence. Why the fuck…? What the hell?! There's nothing easy about any of this!

"Wait," said Irina. "These files may reveal all that we really need to know. We can manage to figure out everything else on our own, right? Huhu, Hanneko's right. This case is too easy for our investigators."

Holy mother of high expectations. How is this supposed to be easy?! I still don't really know… The only culprit it could be… Isn't he dead? But Yasushi wouldn't do anything like this…

_He didn't_.

I can't be too sure about that. I can't be sure about anything… Those three… I still can't believe they're gone…

"How could you call this 'easy'?" Tougo asked. "Three of us just died, and by the end of this, that number will raise to at least four. Why are you so calm?"

"Huhu," said Irina. "I'm calm because I'm not worried. After this trial, the last among us that would cause problems will be gone, and we can all continue to live happily here together! As long as I have that to look forward to, no trial will dampen my spirit! You may do your worst, evil villain!"

Okay, I'm now confused and more scared. Irina's not making any sense!

"Uh, guys," said Tobiki. There seemed to be a hint of sadness in his voice. "Irina's… Kinda right. The only way we can make it out of this is by putting in effort to getting out! So can we please get back to the matter at hand?"

So many interruptions. But Tobiki's right. We can only get out of this if we concentrate and try to get out!

"Wakabayashi-kun's right," I said. "We need to stop getting off track!"

"Right," said Bunpei. "So, we know that there were footprints by the pool, and we also know all the information given in the Monokuma Files." Silence followed these two statements.

"… Is this all we were able to discuss the entire time?" Jay asked.

"Don't sound so disheartened just yet," said Neko. "We still have a lot more to go over."

"That's definitely true," I agreed. "So, Bunpei said that all the files were sent at exactly the same time?"

"Uh… yeah," he confirmed. "Is there any significance in that?"

"Of course," said Tougo. "Hanneko's trying to confuse the order in which they died."

"Well, he kinda failed at that," said Tobiki. "We already know that the order in which they died was Luka-kun first, then Karafuto-san, then Sugihara-kun…"

Hm… that makes sense, but somehow, that seems off…

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," said Tougo.

"Why not? That makes the most sense, doesn't it?" Jay asked. "They did find a suicide note by Yasushi's body, so he probably killed himself after killing Nezumi…"

"Yes, I do suppose it seems that way at face value," said Tougo. "But I think the people who actually found the note should speak up about it." That would be… Neko, Tobiki, and… Me, I guess.

"Hai, Megane-kun!" Neko said. "The note was super dramatic." She prepared to read it. "_To everyone... I apologize for the sins I have committed in this life, for the hearts broken, and for the expectations shattered. Even in Death, I hope you guys can survive past these trials. I'm done fooling you all with my happy mask of lies. And to the Mastermind... While you have broken my spirit, you shall not overcome the powers of hope within my classmates! Now that I really know and remember how good Rin-chan was as an investigator, I know that you will fall!_" At the end of the reading, she struck a pose that was just as ridiculous as the letter.

"So… I don't see the problem here," said Jay.

"The problem…" Kotaka began, for the first time since we arrived here. "Yasushi… Didn't write that. He wouldn't have written something like that. Hell, he wouldn't have committed suicide at all! He wasn't that kind of person!" Her voice shook and cracked with each phrase. I forgot, she lost someone important to her… Actually, Yasushi's the third important person to her to be lost…

"Ido-san…" I began, but she cut me off.

"Don't bother," said Kotaka. "Just continue with the trial."

"Gladly," said Tougo coldly. "Ido's right, but not for the silly romantic reasons she believes. Anyone who's even met Sugihara could tell that he wouldn't write something ridiculous like that."

"Eh? How can you be so sure?" Jay asked. "Unless you're the one who wrote the note!"

Tougo adjusted his glasses for the umpteenth time since we arrived here. "I can assure you that I didn't write the note," said Tougo. "Nor do I have the correct answer as to who may have written it. But there are several things within the note itself that would suggest someone else wrote it."

Tougo's right… I think. Even if Yasushi wrote it, wouldn't it make more sense that he'd address Kotaka in it at last once? The only one of us he mentioned by name was me…

"I have also noticed a few odd details about the note," I spoke up. "Besides the fact that it's laughably dramatic, he never once mentions who we can assume was the most important person to him here…"

Kotaka's expression stayed neutral. Or, as neutral as she could make it.

"Right," said Irina. "Even the way he addressed you was weird. Why would he call you Rin-chan? I think only one person here has ever called you that…"

Way to rub salt in my wounds, Irina. She's right, though. Nezumi always called me that…

"Plus," she continued. "The note… it implies that he regained his missing memories. Given that, he could have bargained with his killer. We're all scared and confused, and the person who killed him would have wanted to know what he knew."

Somehow… that makes no sense. "Uh…" I said. "I think we should ignore that. But I think we can all agree that Sugihara-kun didn't write that, right?"

"I don't think we can be too sure," said Irina. "I mean, it does look like this page came out of Luka's notebook, so Yasushi-kun probably took that page to make it…"

"Weren't you just saying something completely different?" Neko asked.

"Was I?" Irina asked. "Oh, silly me! But still. We don't really have anything that proves that Yasushi-kun _didn't_ write it."

"I do," said Kotaka. She reached into her jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "This is what Yasushi wrote the partner assignments on. You can compare the handwritings, and you can stop trying to mess us up in the meantime."

"It's okay, I don't need to," said Irina. "I already know that Yasushi-kun didn't write this."

"Hanneko, is there any way we can stop Irina from speaking?" Tobiki asked.

"Nyaha! No way! This is getting too interesting. Plus, I'm sure Irina has plenty of important things to say," said Hanneko.

"Iririiiiiiiiiin! Stop trying to confuse us!" Neko said.

"I'm just trying to make sure no one else has any doubts," said Irina.

"I'm sure no one else does," said Bunpei. "But a while ago, you mentioned Luka's notebook. Can you explain why it's significant?"

"Uh…" Irina said. "Not sure. I know that Tougo-kun and Rin-kun were looking for it, though."

"We were," said Tougo. "I needed it for confirmation on an issue. But how did you know that?"

"How? Well, when we were at the pool, didn't you mention it to Rin-kun?" Irina asked.

"I did," said Tougo. "But how did you hear us? When I mentioned it, we were near the edge of the pool, and you were at the top of the bleachers."

Irina maintained her cool, but I could tell she was being cornered. "I was able to read your lips," she said.

"But… You were too far away to be able to see our lips clearly. Plus, when Glasses mentioned the notebook, he was facing me. I was able to see both of you, but it'd be impossible for you to see him," I said. "Not to mention that it was only mentioned once when he told me to look for it. You couldn't possibly have known because of us!"

"Irina! How did you know they'd need it?" Jay asked. "And how were you able to remember what a page from Luka's notebook looked like?"

Irina stayed silent for three seconds. Then five. Then ten. Then thirty. Finally, she exhaled and fixed herself to tell us.

"The mastermind told me to get it, and also left an assignment for me to fulfill," she said. The courtroom stood in a stunned silence.


	19. Chapter Four: Mouse Trap

**Yo! Welcome to part 2 out of three for this case! The last part should be coming soon (Tuesday at the latest). I was planning to upload this yesterday (Friday), but then I fell asleep, so here it is on a Saturday mornin'... Remember, if you have any critiques, suggestions, or theories, don't be afraid to ask about or say them! The story's about two-thirds done, so every major plot point is pretty much decided, and I can answer any questions you have about the story if something doesn't make sense (keeping them spoiler-free, of course).**

**One more thing! I came up with a kinda stupid idea, but I think a few of you might like it, so look out for the announcement of the idea in the next update! On with the story~**

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><p>Irina looked solemn, then her face widened into a deceptive smile. "… Just kidding~" she said in a sing-songy voice. Everyone in the courtroom stared at her in anger and disbelief.<p>

"Jeez," she said. "You guys get so uptight over a few little words. It's not really that serious."

"Irina… This isn't the time to joke around," said Jay calmly. Kotaka looked as if she were prepared to yell at Irina, so it's probably a good thing that Jay stepped in…

But… The mastermind… I doubt Irina would mention that for no reason… Does she know who's behind this?

"Oh, well. Back to the matter at hand," said Irina as if she weren't the one to get us off track in the first place. "I'm the one who wrote the note~"

"Why the hell…" Kotaka began, then stopped.

"Hm…" Irina thought for a moment. "Just 'cuz. Nothing really interesting has happened with these cases yet. I figured maybe adding a few details would make this exciting!"

"We don't need excitement," said Bunpei. "We need to solve this case!"

"Hm… I guess so. There's not much more I can do if we're all gone," she said. "Okay! That's all I did, by the way."

"Moving on," said Tougo loudly. "We still never came to an agreement about the order in which these three died. I'm pretty sure the first to be killed was Luka, then Sugihara, then Karafuto."

Something about that seems… wrong. When I saw Nezumi, she was already gone… and that third announcement went off when the others saw Yasushi… right?

"Glasses," I said. "I think you might have that wrong."

"Oh?" He asked. "Can you please tell me why you would assume so?"

"Because… After you asked me to go get Luka's notebook, I found her," I responded. "Her name had disappeared, and she wasn't moving at all… After that, the second Corpse Discovery Announcement went off…"

He placed his hand to his forehead. "Nakauchi," he said disappointedly. "You're forgetting one important detail. I wouldn't expect you to be confused by something like that."

Confused? That's how it went… I think. Actually… Those announcements… Then that means someone else must have seen her…

"Instead of trying to rationalize your answer," began Tougo. "I think you should try to find a more obvious truth."

"There are more than two people here, by the way," said Neko.

"Nakauchi-san, did you find her before we found Sugihara-kun?" Tobiki asked this. I did… didn't I?

"Guys," I said. "When was Sugihara-kun found the first time?"

"A couple of us found him a little while after we found Luka," said Jay. "We only learned about Nezumi after we found Yasushi… I thought he died before Nezumi…"

"He did," said Tougo.

"Wait up," said Bunpei. "Rin-chama might have a point. If Nezu was found before the second announcement, she might have been dead before Yasu died."

"While that is a possibility, that is, in fact, not the case," said Tougo.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I interjected. "How are you so certain? You didn't have a hand in this case, did you?" There's no way we can be certain about this…

"Rin-kun has a point," said Irina. "It's entirely possible that Yasushi-kun was killed first, then the spy killed Nezumi-san and drowned himself."

"I think you might have that wrong," I said. "If Sugihara-kun died first, why would he send us a message to go to the pool? There'd be no real reason to do so. He must have seen Luka…" Wait. If he saw Luka… No, that can't be…

"But… If Sugihara-kun saw Luka, then why is he gone?" Tobiki asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tougo asked. No… is it?

"Hai! The truth is… Nezu-chan killed Yasu-chan!" Neko exclaimed.

"Correct!" Hanneko shouted. "Finally, we're gettin' somewhere!"

"Eh? Maji? That was correct?" Neko asked. "I kinda just made that up…"

"I don't believe that," said Bunpei. "Nezu was one of the nicest people here! And it seemed like she and Yasu got along well enough… Why would she want to kill him? Something isn't adding up!"

"It's simple," said Irina as she pushed up her glasses and lowered her voice (obviously mimicking a certain eyeglass-wearing asshole). "He knew too much, so he had to go."

"What do you mean 'knew too much'?" Jay asked. "This is starting to sound like something out of a really bad spy movie."

"Hm… Funny you should phrase it that way," said Tougo.

"But… Why would Nezumi kill Sugihara-kun? What exactly did he know that cost him his life?" This is making less and less sense! The only reason why Nezumi would kill Yasushi would be… I don't want to think about that.

_Think about it. You can't get out of here until you realize the truth for yourself. Stop trying to avoid it, and accept the fact that this is all the fault of your "best friend."_

"GAAAH!" I screamed. I closed my eyes and placed my hands over my face out of anger and embarrassment.

"Nakauchi… san…" Tobiki said.

"Nakauchi… The answer to your question is painfully obvious," said Tougo. "Sugihara saw Karafuto kill Luka, so she killed him as well."

"Wow, you bastards are on a roll," Hanneko said. "Can anyone answer why Miss Nezumi would kill these two?" He asked this as if the scene had suddenly turned into a classroom lesson…

"Eto…" Neko said. "Can you give us a hint?"

"Nope," said Hanneko. "If you haven't been paying attention, then that's all your fault. But pay attention in the future~ There might be a test, nyaha!"

"Ugh," groaned Jay.

"The spy…" Kotaka began. "The entire time he was here, he was searching for a thief called 'Mouse.' It sounds like you want us to assume that Karafuto was, in fact, this thief."

_Obviously. There were very apparent clues that she was who that dumbass was looking for. Remember how you saw her in the library not too long ago? She was returning the thing that Hanneko was looking for. Her inexplicable talent for picking locks and drawing maps? Doesn't exactly seem like a useful skill for an artist to have, does it?_

"But…" Tobiki said. "That doesn't make any sense. That's… not possible…"

"Actually," said Tougo. "It is. Irina, give me Luka's notebook."

"Okay~" Irina said. She handed it over without a fight. "I wrote the note on the back, in case you were wondering. Well, I guess it'd be the front in our case…"

Tougo took this, then pulled out a pencil. It looked like he was lightly coloring over a page in it.

"Wait, how do you know what it says?" I asked. He can't read Russian writing, so what purpose does that serve?

"Of course I had practiced reading it since then. I'm not entirely satisfied with mediocrity, unlike a certain 'lucky' student," he said.

"That was uncalled for," Kotaka said. Tougo ignored her and stared at the page in Luka's notebook.

"I apologize… I can only understand one of these words," he said in defeat. Serves you right, asshole.

"Dude! Please tell me it's the most important word on the page," said Bunpei.

"Don't worry," Tougo said. "It is, in my humble opinion. Luka wrote a note addressed to 'Mouse' on the page before this one."

The courtroom erupted in chatters and incoherent phrases.

"Wait," said Jay. "If he were addressing it to one of us, then why would he write it in Russian? He already knew that none of us could read it. It kinda seems like it defeats the entire purpose of writing a note to one of us…"

"You've got that wrong, Jay," I said. "One of us could read it… That one person was Nezumi… She's the only person who would have had some idea of what it was saying, so he didn't need to worry about the information on it being intercepted by someone else."

"So… Nezu-nyan was the thief all along?" Neko asked. I'm completely certain Nezumi would have hated that nickname. But yes… I guess she was…

"I… think so…" I said. "She must have gone to confront Luka… but it ended badly… but still, why would that end in her death? In fact, why would it lead to her murdering Luka?"

"Maybe she wanted to keep that a secret," Tobiki said.

"Precisely! Nezumi Karafuto—or should I say Nezumi Muon—was the famous thief, Mouse!" Hanneko held up a sign with Nezumi's name, an equal sign, and a cartoony drawing of a mouse.

"Muon?" Irina asked.

Yeah… the name "Muon" is highly suspected to be involved with the thieving incidents. I guess that'd be why Nezumi would go with something different… To better hide the secret…

"Wait," said Bunpei. "Didn't we say earlier that this case had more than two killers? It's possible that the culprit killed Nezu and Yasu after Luka died, but is trying to frame one of them. In that case, Irina seems kinda suspicious…"

"Not likely," said Tougo. "Karafuto killed both Luka and Sugihara."

"… Is that possible, though? Nezu-nyan wouldn't have had time to do Yasu-chan in. He was probably alive when we found Luka," said Neko.

"Of course he wasn't alive," said Irina, still mimicking Tougo.

"… I was going to say that," Tougo whispered.

"By the time we found Luka, Yasushi-kun was already dead," said Irina. "Rin-kun, certainly you realized this. Do you remember what happened when we found Luka?"

Why me? But now that she mentions it… Nezumi left after she realized a few of us were missing, and she never went back to try to investigate the scene… in every other case, she tried to figure out what was going on in the area…

"She left first and never returned," I said. "She normally would have stayed to look around for at least a little while when the situation called for it…"

"Good point. But she did something else that was odd. Do you remember everything she said?" Irina asked.

"I might," said Tobiki. "She said she needed to go get 'Kotaka-san, Sugihara-kun, and Bun-kun'. Is that what you mean?"

"Wait. What does that have to do with anything?" Jay asked.

"I think I know," I said. "Nezumi referred to Sugihara-kun by his surname. She's only ever referred to people here by their surnames after they've died…"

"Ah, that's right," Bunpei said. "If that's exactly what she said, then she already knew Yasu was gone…"

"It can only mean that she killed him before Luka was 'discovered'," Irina said.

"That also explains why the announcement didn't go off until I saw him," said Jay. "If Yasushi didn't kill Luka, then the announcement should have gone off when Rin and Nezumi saw him…"

"So, if you've decided on a culprit—" Hanneko said hastily, but was cut off.

"We're not finished with anything!" Bunpei shouted.

"Nyahahahahahahaha!" Hanneko laughed. "You all should see the looks on your faces throughout this trial! You all look so confused and depressed, and it's hella awesome!"

"Wait a second," said Tobiki. "If there are two culprits in this case, then how are we supposed to select one guilty person?"

"Finally, someone asked this question. Some people have been wanting clarification. Anyway, the only option here is to select the culprit that's still alive, isn't it?" Hanneko asked. Shouldn't we be the ones making this a question…?

"So… someone here really…" Jay asked.

Tougo sighed. "Obviously."

"You know, you've been saying that a lot lately," said Jay.

"So, we just need to figure out who caused our numbers to go down so drastically!" Irina exclaimed.

I guess we do. But who could it have been? If Nezumi didn't end it, then…

"Is it really one of us?" Bunpei asked. "I can't imagine any of you would do this… The only answer is that none of us did it, right?"

"No," I said. Someone here did. There are clues that point to them, but… I don't know how they connect just yet… There are some things that only a couple of us know, and I need to put those pieces together!


	20. Chapter Four: Class Trial Conclusion

**Author's Note: Did somebody order an extra-late class trial conclusion? No? Well... crap.**

**Anyway, some of you may have been curious about what I had to reveal. Well... Hanneko has a tumblr blog! (Yes, I'm really bored). It's pretty much dead now, but soon I'll post things like references for characters and early story ideas (and my personal favorite- mastermind AU designs for everyone!). If you want to check it out, it's called "itshannekobitches," and the password (which might be removed soon) is "tripledanganronpa." I hope you enjoy this chapter! Next one will come out on Sunday. Like always, leave a review if there's something you think I should know!**

* * *

><p>"So… you guys done or what?" Hanneko asked us.<p>

"We already said no," said Bunpei.

"Nya. I'm getting bored," said Hanneko. No one bothered to lash out at him about how this isn't some sick form of entertainment.

"Okay," I said. "Should we go over what all we know about his case? Maybe if we mention more things that stood out, we'll be able to figure out more."

"At this point…" said Tobiki. "It's starting to look like the killer might get away with it…"

No… I won't let that happen… I can't…

_Why can't you?_ If I do, then everyone here is gone. _Oh. You're still worried about possibly being executed? Do you really think Hanneko has the power to kill all of you at once? _I've seen him execute us one by one… _Hm… Wanna know what I think? I think you shouldn't worry about that so much._

"Maybe," I whispered. It didn't seem like anyone heard me.

"Yeah… Well, it was nice knowing you all," said Irina. "I didn't want to have to make a confession in this kind of situation, but—"

"Unless it has to do with this case, save your confessions for when we're done here," said Kotaka. "Nakauchi, what all do you know?"

"Uh…" I said. I wasn't really expecting her to call on me like that. "Okay. At this point, it probably won't change any opinions, but I saw Nezumi go in the kitchen, and she came back out with a brown jar, which I'm guessing was because there were peanuts inside it. I'm assuming she would take them for self-defense, since Luka was allergic to peanuts and they'd probably deal him a lot of damage if she needed to get away from him. Luka confronted Nezumi about her being Mouse. I think Luka might have had a plan to get them both out of the school so he could turn her in, which is probably why he bothered to mention it at all. Honestly, that plan probably wouldn't have worked, but Nezumi didn't want to be taken away, nor did she want us to know who she really was. They both somehow got in a fight and wound up falling into the pool, with Nezumi winning the fight in the end. At this point, Sugihara-kun must have seen what was going on. Once Nezumi spotted him, she tried to get rid of him as well. Unfortunately for Sugihara-kun, he and Luka had one thing in common: both were highly allergic to peanuts. She could easily be rid of him with what she had on her. I think most of us were still in the dorms when this transpired.

About fifteen minutes later, after I saw Sugihara-kun's message, I saw Nezumi again. She had changed her clothes and her hair and shoes were wet. At the time, I didn't think anything of it, but that should have been an indicator that something was wrong. We were the first two to find Luka—or so I believed—but most of you came by at that point. Jay pulled him out, and Glasses and I talked about the notebook and what may have happened. Of course, I didn't find the notebook, and I went to look for Nezumi, but I wasn't sure if she was still alive or dead since her name had disappeared, but there were other possibilities. But, when I found her, she was unconscious. I'm guessing a few of you found Sugihara-kun at this point as well. I ran to find answers about what was going on elsewhere, but found none. After that, Glasses found me and brought me to Nezumi, who was, in fact, covered in bruises. I only went to look for Sugihara-kun after I thought he was third, which was when Neko and Wakabayashi-kun found the allergy list that Yamamoto-san wrote. Nezumi must have brought him there when no one was around… Probably when she was looking for Ido-san and Furuda-kun."

"Hm…" Tougo said. "I think you're leaving some things out."

About what? I wasn't sure, so I just made something up. "It's not relevant to this case, so of course I'd leave it out."

"Wait," said Tobiki. "Did anyone else go to the cafeteria? If not, Karafuto-sa—or, Muon-san might have brought him there while we were all elsewhere. Most of us were in the dorms at that point."

"Yeah," said Jay. "I was with Kotaka in my room, and Neko, Rin, and Tougo were with Irina in her room. Luka was also probably planning on meeting with Nezumi, so I don't think he'd have gone there…"

"I was in my room as well," said Tobiki.

"Yeah… I was probably in my room as well," said Bunpei.

"You can't even remember where you were?" Kotaka asked.

"I… I dunno," admitted Bunpei. "I think I might have been… maybe in the gym of the main building… But I left a while after the announcement was made."

"But Bun-chan," said Neko. "If you were in the gym in the main building, and you left a while after the announcement was made, wouldn't there be a chance that you'd encounter Nezu-nyan? The gym and the cafeteria are right by each other."

Bunpei remained quiet. Does that mean anything?

"Oh, right," he said. "There was that…"

"So?" Kotaka asked. "Did you see them or not? If you're withholding information, I'll be sure to have you punished."

"I…" Bunpei hesitated. "I wasn't in the gym."

I'm confused. "Furuda-kun," I began. "Why would you lie about being in the gym?"

"He's probably trying to hide where he actually was," said Kotaka. "Furuda, what do you know about this case?"

"Uh… I dunno who did it, if that's what you mean," said Bunpei. "After leaving where I was, I didn't run into Nezu or the culprit or anything."

"But… Would there be any reason you would run into Nezumi?" Jay asked. She brings up a good point. If Bunpei bothered to mention that, there must be something important about it…

"I'm not going to ask again. Where were you?" Kotaka asked.

"Furuda-kun, were you in the library?" I asked.

"Ye… yeah," said Bunpei. I detected a hint of chagrin in his tone.

"But… Why would you try to hide that?" Irina asked.

"He was probably afraid of being pinned to the crime, seeing as Muon was the last to die, and she was found in the library," explained Tougo.

"Uh… Yeah, that was it," said Bunpei. "I didn't have anything to do with it, by the way."

"We can't just take your word for it, though," said Neko.

"Well, first we should go over everyone's alibi for while Kara—Muon-san was still alive, or some time after that," said Tobiki.

"Furuda and I were on our way to the library after we realized she was missing from the map," said Tougo, wasting no time.

"I was with Irina for a while, but left to look at Luka again," said Jay. "After that, Neko kept up with her, so it'd be impossible for one of us to hide anything from each other."

"I was in the hallway trying to figure out what was going on," said Kotaka. "Furuda walked past me, so he can confirm this."

"Did I? I don't remember too well," said Bunpei.

"He doesn't remember seeing you?" Neko asked. "That seems a little bit suspicious."

"In any case, I saw him, so I figured he saw me," said Kotaka.

"Furuda-kun, this is kinda unlike you," said Tobiki. "Normally your memory is excellent. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," said Bunpei quickly.

"I went to search for Nezumi, of course, but was in Luka's room before I found her," I said, trying to change the subject. No need to dwell so much on one person.

"Interesting," said Irina. "You were the only one to find her after she went missing and before the announcement, correct?"

… Am I being cross-examined? "Yeah, I was," I said.

"Hm… And Nezumi-chan trusts you… It's easy to see how you could have murdered her!" Irina exclaimed and pointed accusingly at me. I guess that's true…

Wait, what?! "That's ridiculous!" I shouted. "I had no reason to kill her, and I couldn't have done it!"

"Oh yeah?" Irina asked. "Prove it!"

The courtroom erupted in murmurs and whispers. Shit! I don't have any proof that I didn't do it…

"How could Nakauchi have done it," began Tougo, "if Nakauchi was under the impression that Sugihara had killed Muon?" That argument's kinda weak. I could have been acting…

"How do we know Rin-kun wasn't just accusing Yasushi-kun in order to throw us off track?" Irina asked. Dang it.

"Nakauchi," Kotaka began. "What state was Muon in when you found her?"

"Uh… Almost nothing like when her announcement went off," I said. "She had no bleeding or bruises from what I could tell."

"So, she had acquired them after Yasushi's announcement went off," stated Kotaka. I guess so…

"Why's that important?" Neko asked.

"I'm not sure just yet," Kotaka answered.

"Hm…" Neko said. "Who were the first three to see Nezu-nyan after Yasu-chan's announcement went off?"

"That would be me, Ido, and Furuda," said Tougo.

Wait a second… Tougo must have seen her before he went to find me. But if Bunpei and Kotaka also saw her…

"Furuda-kun… Ido-san… Neither of you could have done it, right?" I asked.

"Oh? Trying to hastily throw suspicion off yourself, Rin-kun?" Irina asked.

"Wait, why would you say it was either of those two in the first place?" Tobiki asked.

"Because of the announcement," I said. "We already know the announcement goes off after at least three people see a body. If the culprit had not 'seen' her, then why would it only go off after I, being the fourth person, saw her?"

"Right… If Rin-tan were the culprit, then the announcement should have gone off after Taka-chan saw Nezu-nyan," said Neko. "That is, assuming she arrived at the chiisai library after Megane-kun and Buns. She could have done it…"

"Buns?" Bunpei asked. "Can we at least have consistent nicknames from you?"

"Huh? I've never called you 'Buns' before?" Neko asked.

"I think I'd remember something that sticks out so much," said Bunpei.

_That's important. Remember that._

"So," said Kotaka. "I'm being accused of murder?"

"Damn straight, toots," said Hanneko. "Any rebuttals?"

"Of course," said Kotaka before turning to address the rest of us. "I didn't freakin' do it."

"Then… Does that mean I did it?" Bunpei said.

"Please state a fact and stop asking questions," said Jay.

"Exactly. There's still the fact that Furuda had as much of a chance to do it as I did," said Kotaka.

"Kedo… Something's not right," said Irina, pitching her voice to be higher and slightly whiny. Neko narrowed her eyes at Irina.

"Let me ask this," I said. "If you didn't do it, then why would you lie about your alibi?" A single, small twitch from her eyebrow. Her expression remained as it was previously.

"What? Why would I lie about my alibi? Even if I did, there's no way you could prove it," defended Kotaka.

"Because," I said. "You claimed Furuda-kun saw you in the hallway. If he had seen you then, why did he only point out your new haircut after we discovered Nezumi?"

A small "tch" escaped her lips, and her eyes became angry for a brief moment. Besides that, her expression returned to normal. "In case you haven't realized, Furuda's been really out of it," said Kotaka.

"I have not… well, not that much," said Bunpei.

"Even if he was out of it," I said. "He still managed to notice a couple of small details. Remember his response to Neko's new nickname for him?"

"Yeah, I said I think I'd notice something that sticks out so much, or something like that," Bunpei said. "But you can't really go by that to accuse Kotaka-sama. It's practically a baseless accusation!"

"That's true," I acknowledged. "But Ido-san, do you actually have someone who can verify where you were?"

"I've been checking in on her," said Tobiki. "I did see her name in the hallways and the library. But that reminds me… Hanneko, your system is faulty. Ido-san's name kept disappearing."

"So has Rin's, now that he brings it up," said Jay.

"True. Nezu-nyan's name had disappeared a couple of times earlier, too, but I dismissed it since her announcement went off a while later," said Neko.

"We can't forget Tougo-kun~ His name's been going on and off the screen, too," added Irina. "Has that been happening to all of ours? That's too many people to ignore."

"NYAA! Absolutely NYATHING's wrong with the system! _NYATHING!"_ Hanneko yelled. "All of those bastards you named just happen to have something in common!"

"They've killed people?" Irina asked in jest.

"Are they supposed to be the smartest or something?" Jay asked.

"Are all of them supposed to have some sort of horrible secret?" This came from Tobiki.

"Were they in some secret group that none of the rest of us knew about?" Bunpei suggested. Funny he should mention that… But what we all have in common… I know.

"Ido-san," I began. "You know a secret about this school. Glasses knows it, Nezumi knew it, I know it. Hell, Luka even knew it. Am I on the right track?"

"Are you sure it's not what Jay or Furuda suggested?" Kotaka asked. "Both of them seem to have some sort of accuracy, although I can't completely agree with Jay's statement in Hanai's case." Glasses grimaced at her.

"As if a murderer should insult my intelligence. My mind isn't so primitive as to resort to killing someone," argued Tougo. God damn it. This must have to do with what Nezumi mentioned a while ago… Seems like so long ago…

"I haven't been proven to have murdered anyone. Think before you speak and pay better attention, plebeian," responded Kotaka.

"Get a room, you two," I said before Tougo could make his inevitable defensive response. Both of them stopped immediately.

"A rare pair?" Neko asked.

"Ido-san, I do have more questions for you," I said. "Before Luka was found, you and Jay were together."

"Yes," Jay said. "But I don't see what that has to do with the situation…"

"That we were," confirmed Kotaka. "In case it wasn't completely obvious, I had asked her to cut my hair."

"That's exactly what I wanted to know," I said. "A few white, wispy strings were found on Jay's jacket, and in a certain other incriminating area. Is there any chance those wisps belong to you?"

Now Kotaka's expression changed completely from her earlier stoic appearance. Bingo.

"Hmph," said Kotaka. "If anything, you make it sound more like Jay did it."

"_Now hold_ _up," _said Jay in English. _"I don't even—_I mean, Rin, what 'incriminating area' are you talking about?"

"That's not the point," I said. "Ido-san, when Jay left to check on Irina, we pointed out that she had one on her jacket, then she quickly removed it. I don't suppose you're trying to say that more were stuck on her jacket, then fell off?"

"Then why would they come from me? I don't suppose you saw any hairs fall off me recently," Kotaka said.

"Interesting word choice. Why would you suddenly say 'hair,' Kotaka-chan?" Irina asked.

"We all know those white wisps that Nakauchi keeps bringing up are supposed to be hairs. It's not that hard to figure out," said Kotaka.

"Like I said, that was the only one on her," I said.

"She hadn't finished cutting my hair by that point," said Kotaka. "More hairs could have stuck to her afterwards."

"True," I said. "But Jay did something that would have completely removed any other hairs that could have stuck to her: she jumped in the pool to get Luka out."

Kotaka doesn't even seem to be trying to keep up her normal appearance. "So, you're claiming I was in the office. It's not possible that anyone else could have been in there. Correct?"

"I guess so," I said. "But I haven't had a chance to get to the relevant part. For some reason, you and Nezumi were in there. You expected one of us to come that way, didn't you? Why is that?"

"I… I wasn't expecting anybody," said Kotaka. "I was just investigating that room."

"That doesn't explain why Nezumi was there."

"There's no proof that Nezumi was there."

"She was in the elevator leading to it!"

"And your point is?"

"Why would you be 'investigating' in there, anyway?"

"I can't disclose that information just yet."

"Two of us can verify the evidence we found there!"

"You and who? If it's Hanai, we can't rely on that. He's clearly got it out for me."

I'm running out of points… Is there something I'm forgetting?

"Anyway," continued Kotaka. "I didn't kill Muon. If you'd like to insist that I did and that we both met in the office, then how did I get out of the office without being noticed by you or Hanai, since both of you claimed to be there?"

That was exactly what I was afraid of.

_You don't need to be afraid. You already know this bitch killed your precious lying thief friend. Prove it or die. _Thanks for the pep talk.

"Ido-san," I said. "When the elevator leading to the office reaches the floor, a tiny bell goes off."

"Tch," said Kotaka. "So? Where's the relevance in that?"

"It's relevant because you knew I was coming," I said. "There are several other rooms in that hallway. My guess is that you hid in one of them until I was in the main room at the end of the hall. Were you able to wait until the coast was clear, then escape through the elevator?"

Kotaka remained quiet. The entire courtroom was silenced.

"Hmph," said Kotaka. "Alright. Rin Nakauchi, will you explain exactly how everything went down? Starting from where you left off earlier, please."

Uh… Alright… "While no one was around the area, you heard the Corpse Discovery Announcement for Luka go off. You knew to investigate, but you decided on a smarter route. Instead of scrambling to search for clues, you'd search for surveillance footage of the crime taking plane. Around the time you actually found it, you probably managed to witness another setup by a certain phantom thief occurring. She must have been summoned by you to the office, where she would meet an untimely demise. Were you avenging Sugihara-kun? Trying to take advantage of a scenario riddled with chaos? I'm not sure. But I do know that in the office, you two fought. Unfortunately for Nezumi, she was overpowered by a surprisingly strong politician. After placing her in the elevator in order to add to the confusion, you hid in one room in the office after realizing someone would be there soon. Luckily for you, I was only focused on the main room at the end of the hallway. After I was in there, you quickly went to the library in order to finish off Nezumi, taking advantage of the lack of witnesses in the area and running away after beating her and slamming a bookshelf on her. But, seeing as Glasses and Furuda-kun were quickly on their way, you 'd probably be left with no choice but to hide somewhere you wouldn't be noticed, or be forced to explain exactly what had happened and have this trial end before it even starts.

Glasses, after seeing Nezumi, more than likely went to find me, knowing where I'd be. Furuda-kun was probably too stunned by Nezumi's death to see you crawl out from behind a desk or a bookshelf and pretend to have just arrived on the scene. Unfortunately for you, the rule about the culprit always returning to the scene of the crime held true. My seeing Nezumi set off the alarm despite the fact that three of you had 'seen' her before me, leaving one final clue needed to incriminate you. It could only have been you, couldn't it?"

Throughout my litany, Kotaka nodded her head either up and down or side to side from time to time.

"You have a few details incorrect," said Kotaka. "But it seems like your theory makes sense for the most part."

"So," said Hanneko. "Are we completely done? No doubts this time?"

"Wait!" Tobiki shouted.

"Dear freakingtrnggmeopbgiofbiogaaaaahhhhh!" Hanneko yelled.

"You okay there, buddy?" Neko asked.

"Gah," he said. "It just feels like this trial's been going on forever!"

"Ido-san," began Tobiki. "Why did you do it?"

"Hm… why indeed," said Hanneko. "It wasn't some stupid cliché reason like 'she killed the one I love!' or something like that, right? If so, that'd be completely lame of you _and_ the author."

Kotaka sighed. "I just didn't want to die."

I'm confused. Why would she die because Nezumi killed two people?

"You're probably wondering what I could possibly mean by that," began Kotaka. "But I saw… Her eyes were completely devoid of anything resembling light. I went to confront her, and she tried to run away, going into the office. She probably thought I wouldn't find her, but I already knew about the elevator to the office. Once I arrived there… would you like to know what she said to me? 'I'm surprised you found me… I know… I'll get in trouble for killing those two… I'm horrible… but hey… if I kill a third person… Hanneko will punish me, right? I won't have to put everyone through another one of those trials… I won't have to lie just to save my life… they'll never know… who I really was…' I was scared. She was fully prepared to kill me just to keep her secret, and soon that confrontation turned into a fight to the death. What else was there to do besides try to stay alive? I'm sure if any of you were in that situation, you'd react the exact same way. So please, just consider that when you think about how horrible I am."

"OKAY," said Hanneko. "Are we ready to cast votes now? Will you be right in selecting who committed this horrible act, or will you be hideously, fatally wrong?"

We all voted on the culprit. I feel disgusted with myself. For some reason, it feels like I shouldn't be voting on Kotaka, even though I know she did it. It seems… wrong.

"Aha, I see," said Hanneko. "You all voted on the Super High School Level Politician, Kotaka Ido. Unfortunately for you, that's completely wrong!"

"Na-NANI?!" Neko shouted.

"What?" Tougo asked, as if Hanneko were challenging something he knew to be true.

"What?" Kotaka asked in a similar fashion. "That's impossible! Who else could it have been?!"

"Nyahaha! It could have been Bunpei Furuda," said Hanneko. What? It was him? I turned out to be wrong? No! God damn it! God fucking damn it! Everyone else is going to die, and it's all because of me! I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but tried not to let any fall.

"Shit!" Bunpei yelled. "Please let everyone else vote again! I didn't realize the bookshelf—"

"Lol, I'm just messin' with you guys," said Hanneko. "You all are absolutely right! Kotaka Ido was the one to kill Mouse-chan!"

"You're a literal piece of trash," said Jay.

"Nyeah, whatever," said Hanneko. "Does our esteemed culprit have anything else to say?"

"Actually," said Kotaka. "I do. Thanks for reminding me. Your little prank almost caused me to forget."

Kotaka walked over to my podium. "Rin Nakauchi," she began. "In case I were to die, I wanted to make sure someone capable would take over as a leader for everyone. I planned to have Yasushi tell you, but I guess it'd be unnecessary in this case. I want you to take over as this group's leader."

I was stunned. "Gee, thanks Ido-san," I began. "But I don't think—"

"Yeah, shut up," she said quickly. "You're already halfway there. You just need to make it to the other half."

Wow. I'm not sure how to feel about this. I don't really want to take over as a "leader" per se, but if it's Kotaka's dying wish and everyone else agrees, then I guess I will.

"Remember what I said, Nyakauchi," said Kotaka. "But I also have one more question."

Huh? "What is it?" I asked.

"How were you able to figure out that my alibi wasn't true?" Kotaka asked. I can tell this'll end up pissing her off…

"Oh, that?" I asked. "I was bluffing."

Kotaka looked ridiculously pissed off. Then she laughed. "Good job," she said. "Alright, kitty-cat. No reason to prolong this, right?"

"Glad you'd say so," said Hanneko. "I've got a super special execution planned for our Super High School Level Politician! It's punishment time!"

Hanneko pressed a button, and Kotaka was dragged away from the courtroom. She left without a fight. Seconds later, she appeared on the screen displaying the executions. She was standing behind a full wooden podium on a platform. Several microphones covered the podium, and several Hanneko clones in different wigs and outfits made an audience. Kotaka, recognizing this kind of situation, decided to give a speech.

"Classmates," she began. "I realize that I have disappointed you by committing such a heinous act." Her voice shook. "Even so, I only wish for you to rise beyond—"

Suddenly, a device plopped down on the podium in front of her. Kotaka picked it up and flipped it open. While this happened, the words "Operation: Hunt down the Hawk, Take out the Prime Minister" appeared on screen. Suddenly, the screen was panned to someone whose hair was an unmistakable green color. "We ready?" These words appeared on the screen.

The feed panned to another person dressed in black. Her hair was black and held together in a ponytail, and she stood on top of a building.

"Ready." This word appeared on screen. Meanwhile, Kotaka managed to power up the device, and a hologram of Yasushi appeared.

"With whom am I speaking?" The hologram asked this. Kotaka frowned.

"Kotaka Ido," she said the cracks in her voice becoming more apparent.

"Ahaha," Yasushi laughed. "I guess this means I've been killed. Who turned out to be the culprit in this case?"

By this time, Kotaka was practically in tears. A faint beeping sound could be heard.

When the feed changed to show the assassin, we saw her trying to adjust her rifle. Intense music began. As the feed zoomed in to show her preparing to pull the trigger, she was tackled by officials in law enforcement uniforms. Her gun fired, but missed completely. It still managed to cause panic within the crown of Hannekos, and they began to scramble about in a ridiculous fashion.

"Kotaka… Is everything okay?" Yasushi's hologram asked. He sounded worried.

"Please… Forgive me," said Kotaka. The hologram portrayed a knowing expression as the faint and irregular beeping became louder.

"I understand, Kotaka," said the hologram. "I won't tell you what you did was okay, but I forgive you." The beeps became louder and more frequent.

"Is everyone else okay?" Yasushi asked.

"They're all fine," said Kotaka, trying not to cry so much.

"That's good. I sense something different about you…"

"I… cut my hair… if that's what you mean…"

"Ah. I always thought you'd look cute with short hair." The beeping has become quicker and more piercing.

"Yasu—"

She was cut off. The ElectroID detonated, showing a small puff of fire before the screen changed to a black picture with the word "CENSORED" in white letters. Once the screen went back to where Kotaka was, all that was left was a pile of ashes and burning wood. "Operation: Hunt Down the Hawk, Take out the Prime Minister is complete." The screen cut off after this.

* * *

><p>"So…? How was it?" Hanneko asked. "I was starting to feel like these executions weren't brutal enough, so I tried something new! For the first time ever, we have actual dialogue in the executions!"<p>

"Fuck you," I said.

"Nyahaha!"

"So… Our leader's been changed to Rin-tan?" Neko asked. Oh, yeah.

"That'd only be if you guys want me to lead. I'd probably not really do much different from what I normally do," I explained.

"That should be decided upon later," said Tougo. "For now, send us up, Hanneko."

"With pleasure, kid," replied Hanneko. We all stood on the logo and ascended back to the gym. I stood next to Bunpei.

"Furuda-kun, were you actually withholding information?" I asked. Bunpei's face hardened.

"I'm really sorry, Rin-chama!" He apologized and began to bow. "I accidentally knocked over the bookcase! I didn't see her and thought I'd killed her, so I started freaking out! Please don't be too angry…"

"Calm down," I said. "But you're not getting off so easily. I'll make sure to find an appropriate punishment for you." We'd reached the gym. Before he could inquire further, I walked away quickly.

"First order of business," I said to myself as I pulled out my ElectroID. "Set up a meeting in the cafeteria in five minutes."


	21. Chapter Five: A New Challenge

I sighed. Kotaka's not here anymore, and she asked me to take over for her… But… I don't know. Well, I guess I won't know until this meeting is over.

I walked to the cafeteria right after I sent the message. Of course, no one was there. Surprisingly, Bunpei arrived soon after I did.

"Yo, Rin-chama," said Bunpei with less enthusiasm than normal. Not really surprising given the situation, but it still seemed odd.

"Yo," I replied. "So, would you like to try justifying that you hid not only the fact that you knocked over the bookshelf and possibly killed Nezumi, but the fact that Ido-san's alibi wasn't true and you knew it?"

I still regret how stern I was in saying this to him. Seeing how upset he became almost hurt.

_Stop being such a baby. If bossy bitch left you as the leader, then you should lead. Maybe you could cause more deaths and solve more cases. It's obvious you enjoy doing this._

"…Rin-chama?" Bunpei asked. "You okay there?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine." That's a lie. I'm feeling like I'm actually starting to go insane here. "So, why'd you do it?"

He stared at me sadly, then quickly bowed on the ground. "I'm sorry! So so so so so soooorrryyyyyy!"

… I've never felt so awkward before in this school… even after having that creepy bastard in my room. Bunpei continued to apologize and make me feel awkward…

"I'm sorry, Furuda-kun," I said. "But…"

"No, I'm sorry, Rin-chama," he said. "I realize I shouldn't have tried to hide anything, but Kotaka-sama saw me knock the bookshelf over, and I got scared since I thought that meant it was my fault… But she said 'don't worry… you didn't do anything…' I didn't know how to take that, so... Maybe she saw it was an accident and decided not to blame me… then it turned out to be Nezu…"

He bowed down further… somehow, it was still possible for him. "I'm sorry…"

"Bunpei Furuda," I said. "Do you realize we all could have died? Including you, since Ido-san turned out to be the culprit…"

Bunpei stopped his shameless groveling in order to look up at me. "I know," he said. "But I wouldn't blame her… I would have done the same thing… I mean, I kinda did do the same thing… I'm pathetic."

I sighed. "I don't blame her," I said. "I don't blame you, either. But… I'm not really sure what my point is. Just… Please don't hide anything. None of us will let you die, and I'll keep more deaths from occurring if I can help it. And you're not pathetic just for wanting to stay alive, so don't think that way."

That seemed to help him feel a bit better. Still, when he smiled, it seemed fake somehow…

"Thanks," he said in an attempt to reassure me.

"Anyway," I continued. "Since you're the first person here, it'll be less awkward doling out your punishment."

"So, I'm still in trouble?" Bunpei asked.

"Of course," I said. "You have to apologize to everyone when they arrive."

I grabbed Bunpei's hand and helped him up. "Is that it?" Bunpei asked. "That doesn't seem—"

"Of course that's not it," I said. "You are now in charge of preparing our meals starting with today's lunch. I think we all wound up skipping breakfast due to the trial, so you have to start now."

"Alright, got it!" With that, Bunpei left to go to the kitchen. Tobiki and the girls arrived after that. After seeing them fill out some seats, it sank in how many people were gone… We've had seventeen students, but now we're down to seven… This room feels even emptier…

"Nakauchi-san…?" Tobiki asked.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Hm…" Neko said. "Megane-kun and Buns are missing."

"Actually, it looks like it's just Tougo-kun," said Irina as she checked her ID.

"That reminds me," said Jay. "Are we still going to be checking in on our partners? It looks like only four of us still have our original partners anyway, so…"

"But," began Tobiki, "checking in on people hasn't really done much good in preventing murders…"

That was surprisingly pessimistic of him… He was close to Nezumi also, wasn't he? "Tobiki," I said. "Even if it seems like it hasn't done much, it's still helped us solve a couple of the cases. Still, at this point, the partner system may be pretty much dissolved… But we'll have to discuss that once everyone arrives."

Shortly after saying this, Tougo arrived.

"Buddy~" Irina said.

"You're late," I said.

"Huh, I guess so," said Tougo. "Anyway, what's burning?"

Burning? Oh, no. I ran into the kitchen to find Bunpei staring in confusion at a large flame on the stove.

"Furuda-kun! What the hell?!" I yelled.

"Rin-chama! There's a fire extinguisher by the entrance!" Bunpei yelled back. Surely enough, there was one not far from where I was. Bunpei was busy throwing salt on the fire while I did this. After realizing I had no idea how those things worked, I just started pulling and turning and squeezing things until something worked. Within seconds, the kitchen was covered in foam and salt. The other students ran to see just what was going on.

"… So… Looks like you guys were having fun," said Neko. I sighed and walked over to one of the cabinets. Looks like we're going to have to settle with cup noodles for now.

"Anyway, can we begin whatever should have been occurring at the moment?" Tougo asked.

"I guess," I said as I tossed Bunpei the plastic cups. There's no way to mess that up.

"Don't worry about getting one for me," said Irina. "I'm not hungry."

"What did you eat? I didn' realize you came here earlier," said Jay. While she was saying this, Irina pulled out a nearly empty jar (I'm not sure exactly where it was hidden).

"Peanuts," she said. Those must be…

"Irina, you're under permanent house arrest after this meeting," I said. "Besides that, there are several things we need to discuss."

"Right," said Jay. "In the courtroom, you guys mentioned an office? What's that all about, and why'd ya keep it a secret?"

I sighed. "Glasses was the first to find it. There are several—"

"Besides_ that_," said Tougo. "There's one more issue we need to discuss. We never decided on a leader."

… Wha? WHAT?!

"But didn' Kotaka pick Rin to—" Jay began, but she was interrupted.

"Are you sure you want to go by the suggestions made by a murderer and a traitor?" Tougo asked. What the hell? Am I being brought in the middle of a conflict between him and Kotaka? Is it _still_ going on?

"He has a valid point," said Irina. "We shouldn't just decide based on a recommendation by someone who clearly wasn't thinking straight," said Irina.

"Despite how invalid that statement is," began Tougo, "we should—"

"Glasses," I said. "I'm not trying to be Kotaka 2.0 or anything like that. I'm just trying to stop these senseless murders."

"We all are," he said. "What makes you think it's more important because you believe it?"

"I'm not trying to say it's more important because I believe it," I said. "I'm just trying to make sure you understand what I'm trying to do."

"It's like they're in their own little world," whispered Jay.

"Can you two please stop?" Tobiki asked. "Your arguing is only going to make the situation worse."

"Tobi-chan's right," said Neko. "The idea is to get rid of conflicts. We can't get out of here if we can't work together."

"Guys," said Bunpei as we stood and continued our bantering. "Can you all please go to the cafeteria? The water's almost done boiling, so lunch will be ready soon."

We all left, as Bunpei asked. I began addressing everyone again as Bunpei brought out seven cups filled with scalding water.

"Alright," I said. "So far, we haven't really been able to prevent people from dying in the past. Even so, in order to make sure no one is killed and no one goes sneaking around, I propose we dissolve the partner system and just stay in a close group until we're rescued. It's approaching one month's time since we've been here, so there are probably several people still looking for us. We just need to be patient and keep—"

"And what if we're never found?" Tougo asked. "Furthermore, the idea that we all need to stay together in one group doesn't seem like it would do us much good. Don't you all think that in order to prevent more deaths, we should stay separate? _I_ propose we all stay in completely separate rooms. If someone wants to meet someone else, both of them have to go to a room that neither one was in before, and one of them has to inform a third party that they're both meeting. That way, if someone's killed, we already know where they are, who did it, when it happened, and possibly even a cause of death, depending on the area. That seems infinitely more effective."

"Forming a system completely based on distrust? That doesn't seem very effective at all," I said. "It's like you're expecting another crime to happen."

"With this group, is it really that unbelievable?" Tougo asked. I opened my mouth to respond, but no words formed. Why is he doing this? Surely he realizes that kind of system is more likely to lead to deaths.

"Actually," Tougo said. "How about we let the others decide? Each person here should be able to decide on what they want to do. To be honest, I'm surprised you hadn't come up with a similar solution, _hikikomori_."

Silence. Well, silence from me.

"_Hey, that wasn't cool, man," _said Jay.

_"Whatever,"_ replied Tougo. _"It's not like I said anything particularly insulting."_

_"That's total bullshit," _yelled Jay. _"Rin's obviously offended."_

"You can stop, Jay," I said, assuming from her tone of voice that she was reprimanding him. I cleared my throat and fixed my voice. "Fine. If you want to go along with Glasses's idea, find a room and stay isolated. If not, then go with me to the library in this building after this. For reference, can we get a show of hands as to who will do what?"

It took a while for hands to go up. First, obviously, was Tougo's. The next hand to go up was Neko's. Then Irina, then Jay.

"I don't really have much of a choice if I'm under house arrest," said Irina.

"Sorry, Rin," said Jay. "I'll be going along with your idea, but I'll be staying with Irina in her room instead."

"… Yeah, I'll probably just hang out in the rec building so I can make stuff," said Neko.

Alright then. "So, Wakabayashi-kun, Furuda-kun, will I see you in the library soon?"

"Yes," said Tobiki quickly.

"Guess so," said Bunpei.

"With that," said Tougo. "I'm going to the library in the Research Building." He began to walk away, cup ramen in hand. "Unless it's urgent," he said as he turned to us one last time. "… Don't come to see me." He left.

"So… any bets on who's goin' next?" Irina asked in jest.

"Shut up and go to your room," I said. Eventually, she and Jay left. Neko was the last to leave.

"Ja ne," she said as she left.

"So, is this what it's come to?" Tobiki asked.

"Looks like it, li'l buddy," said Bunpei. "But I doubt Irina and Jay-chan would try to attack each other. With those two covered, Tougo and Neko on their own, and us together, we should be fine."

"Yeah," I said. "This more than likely won't last forever, and we'll be able to trust each other again soon."

"I hope so," Tobiki responded.

"Hope, you say?" God damn it.

I turned around to address the new voice. "What do you want, Hanneko?"

"Nyahaha!" Hanneko laughed and sat down. "I just wanted to ask you guys if you wanted to do more classes. Of course, it'll be completely optional."

"What could you possibly teach us that would be of use here?" Bunpei challenged.

"Swimming lessons!" Hanneko exclaimed. We all stood and stared at him. I walked away, followed by Bunpei and Tobiki.

"I'll take that as a no," said Hanneko. Soon we were in the library and far enough from Hanneko to not be irritated by him.

"So," said Bunpei. "You and Tougo have been hiding something from us, Rin-chama."

I almost choked on my food. That really came out of nowhere. At that instant, I got a message from Tougo saying "Don't tell them. If they know about it, they may try to go there. You'll be putting them in danger." I responded saying "Don't fucking boss me around, asshole." Nevertheless, he has a valid point. Those of us that knew about it have been pushing our luck.

"You're right, Furuda-kun," I said. "A couple days ago, Ido-san put together a group of us in order to figure out how we'd get out of here. Of course, it didn't succeed, and three out of five of the group members were killed. I'm not sure exactly what the purpose of the group was now that it's failed, but it's been kept secret."

Once I finished, Bunpei groaned and looked me in the eyes. "You know that's not what I meant, Rin."

I sighed. I guess I should take him seriously now. "I know," I said. "But I can't tell you just yet."

"Is it to keep us out of danger?" Tobiki asked. For some reason, something about his question seemed… off… Like he was asking it sarcastically…

"Yeah, actually," I said. "In fact, screw whatever Glasses says. I trust you guys. Unless there's some serious danger going on and one of us is in trouble, please don't go in the office. In case you ever need to…" I motioned to the large column. "Press the beige square. It opens an elevator that leads to that floor."

As I explained this, I got another message from Tougo. This time telling me not to tell too much since he doesn't have faith that I didn't tell them. I sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. I didn't respond.

"Yeah. But it's probably not going to come to that, so we should be fine," I said. The two of them looked at me, then each other, then me again.

"Alright, Nakauchi-san," said Tobiki. "As our leader, I'm going to trust you."

"Same here," said Bunpei. "Now what?"

" 'Now what' what?" I asked.

"Well, if we have to stay together all day, then should we do something interesting?" Bunpei asked.

Hm… "Interesting" isn't exactly what I would be worried about in this situation. I should be looking at those files I got from the office, but I left them in my room. I probably shouldn't go off to look for them without these two... Even so, I don't want to bring those two to know about those files.

"Hey! How about we try to figure out exactly what's going on with this school?" Bunpei asked. "We could try to come up with ideas to get out of here, or we could try to send a signal for someone to help since we're here in the library and all…"

"That seems like something we should have been doing," said Tobiki. "But at this point, it probably won't do much good. The people behind this have probably already completely covered their tracks…"

"Still," I said. "It's a good idea, and we may come up with some new leads. We're more likely to get out of here if we actually _try._"

_Haha! You already know there's no point. In fact, you should know best of all how this will end. All of your "friends" are gonna die, and all you'll be able to do is sit there and watch it unfold._

"Anyway, I think it'll probably help," I said. For the rest of the day, we sat in the library and tried to write out what all we knew. We made about as much progress as the secret meetings Kotaka held made. By the time the nighttime announcements were made, we realized that there was still a lot that we didn't know. Oh, well. We walked together to the dorms, then separated at our rooms. Moments later, there was a knock at my door. I wonder who that could be.

"Glasses, I'm not—" I began, but soon cut myself off. Tougo wasn't there. Instead, there was a hand-written note.

"'I can't believe someone like you wouldn't notice something so obviously wrong from earlier today, Rin'," I read. There's only one person that could be so condescending that it shows in their writing. I continued reading.

"'I thought you'd notice. During the trial, Kotaka told you that you were already halfway there. In addition, she called you "Nyakauchi." Don't you see something odd about either of those things? Think about it, then meet me in the office once you realize what she meant.' What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" This was almost too hard to keep reading. I'm surprised at how minor the insults in this were, though. But he's right. Why would Kotaka call me "Nyakauchi"? The only person who's called me that is Hanneko… Is Kotaka the mastermind? Never mind, she wouldn't execute herself if she were behind this. There's also the "halfway" thing she said. For her to say both of those things… They must have something to do with each other…

Wow, I'm a fucking idiot. I walked to the office and wondered why I didn't think of this earlier. The Hanneko door with only half of his face carved out, and the other blue face behind it… By the time I was at the elevator, it all clicked. I quickened my pace as I went to the room at the end of the hall. As I pulled the hidden door so that it fit halfway, I realized Tougo wasn't here. He probably thought I wouldn't figure it out so quickly… Anyway, as I adjusted the door, the carved parts with Hanneko's face outline engraved began to glow. Bingo.

I heard a click, then pushed the door. Just as I expected, the room was filled with screens showing several different parts of the school. One section had the word "dormitory" over it, which caught my attention. Most of the feeds showed clean rooms. My eyes wandered over to Tougo's room, in which he was sitting at his desk and reading. Looks like he's already in his pajamas...

Wait a second. If he sent me that note, then why isn't he on his way here? And… one extra room is empty… I couldn't think of whose it was… It was too late when I realized just how much danger I was in. I managed to walk right into a trap. As I tried to run away, I felt a shock in my foot and fell down. The last thing I remember from in there was feeling very sleepy…


	22. Chapter Five: Irritating Pointlessness

_"Alright, class, welcome back to school!" Our teacher greeted us in her normal enthusiastic manner. Arikawa? Asakura? I could never quite remember her name, but with her long, tan legs, slim figure, and sapphire-blue eyes, most of the boys here probably aren't too interested in her name either._

_ "I know you all probably don't want to be here—and, to be honest, neither do I—but we've still got two more trimesters to power through! Come on, we can do this!" It sounds more like she's trying to encourage herself than anyone…_

_ The girl in front of me raised her hand. "Uh… Sensei," she began timidly. "Isn't there something you wanted to tell us?" Our teacher tilted her head and looked to her left, as if the answer to the question was written on the nearest wall._

_ "Oh, right! Thank you for reminding me, Yamamoto-san," said the teacher. She then looked to the door and made a beckoning motion to someone outside. Seconds later, a boy with striking light-green hair walked in. He made his way to the board and wrote his name using a random piece of chalk. Most of it looks like it's in a completely different alphabet… He must not be from Japan._

_ "Luka Kamishiro… Ivanov, huh?" The girl next to me (who asked about my uniform at the entrance ceremony) whispered most of what I couldn't read. So he is a foreigner._

_ "The lovely lady in the third row has it," said the kid. "I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov, and I've been admitted here as the Super High School Level Chess Player. My parents hail from Russia and Japan. I'm a Scorpio, I enjoy meeting new people and traveling to new places, I'm allergic to peanuts, and I hope you all will accept me as a friend!"_

_ "Yeah," said what's-her-name-sensei. "We meant to have him start attending New Hope's Peak when you all did, buuuut… it took us a while to track him down, hehe." Luka looked slightly alarmed for a while, but soon began laughing._

_ "Right," he said. "It's a bit hard to keep up with someone when they're traveling for chess tournaments."_

_ "Chess? Oh, right! Well, if you'll please take the seat between Nakauchi and Hanai, we can start class soon! I hope you all finished your homework," said our teacher before going on a lecture over one of our homework packets. Luka took notes happily. Something about him is wrong. He's definitely lying about being a chess player, but why would our teacher cover for him?_

_The rest of the day passed uneventfully. After school ended, I ran to the library._

"_Hu, I see you're here on your own like usual." I turned to meet a small girl in a lolita ensemble. While the person's mannerisms and gait matched that of Alice Darlington, I knew it wasn't her. I know almost nothing of this person, he or she's constantly changing his or her appearance, and we only ever meet after school. Even so, he or she seems to be something like a "friend." Well, more like a friend than any of my other classmates. For some reason, this person asked me to call him or her "Dayzayspwa."_

"_Your hair's been growing," said Dayzayspwa. "Anyway, I have another assignment for you that you may enjoy."_

"_What is it?" I asked. Dayzayspwa asked me to help with a project that he/she's working on. So far, all I've had are "assignments" that I get every so often. I don't really see the point to them, but they're helping quell my boredom._

"_I need you to find out secrets about your classmates," said Dayzayspwa. "Anything you think they wouldn't want known, I want you to find out."_

"_That seems kinda pointless," I said. "What, are you going to blackmail them?"_

"_Nyahaha," Dayzayspwa laughed. "My plan is much more complicated and creative than that. Come here after school on the day you finish. I'll have something else for you to do." With that, the Alice imitator stood and walked away with the same amount of grace and poise as the one being impersonated._

"_Oh," Dayzayspwa turned to face me. "Good job on that case." Soon afterwards, Dayzayspwa left. Well, there's not much else for me to do here. I gathered my things and left. In the hallway, I passed by Luka and a group of girls walking near him. In walking towards the entrance, I was greeted by a familiar face. Well, two familiar faces. Ichigo's eyes grew wider when she saw me._

"_Hey, it's Riiiiiiiiiiiin!" Ichigo's pace quickened as she walked toward me. Glasses guy just stood and watched._

"_Well, if you're going to deal with her," began Glasses. "Make sure she's home before six. If not, then I'll end up in trouble." He turned and left. He's treating me like some sort of babysitting service…_

"_Feh, don't mind him," said Ichigo. "He's probably jealous that he doesn't have anyone to hang out with now." Something about that struck me, but I tried not to dwell on it._

"_So, got any new cases?" Ichigo asked me eagerly as we walked out the school. It seems that she and I have grown closer, for some reason._

"_Nah, not really. You know those kinds of things don't happen every week, right?" I asked. "Besides, I do have something I've been asked to do, but it probably won't interest you."_

"_I bet it would~" Ichigo said in a sing-songy voice. "Ah, you should tell me more about it at that new sweets shop near here."_

_We walked and spoke on our way to the new shop that Ichigo heard about. She pestered me about the assignment once we were seated, and I told her the basics._

"… _And I'm not sure how to go about it," I said. She nodded and listened._

"_Well, I could help you with at least one of your classmates, hehe," said Ichigo with a devious giggle._

* * *

><p>… I opened my eyes quickly. I wasn't entirely sure where I was, but soon everything became clear. Another strange dream, huh? After staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, I sat myself up and surveyed the room I currently occupied. For the most part, it seemed just like my room, except inverted. Whatever would be on one side was on another. I still had my clothes from the previous… Actually, I'm not sure what time it is. This room conveniently has no clocks. I may have only been here for a short time…<p>

"I trust you slept well," said Hanneko. He startled me back to my current reality. "Anyway, I guess I don't need to tell you that you're trapped here."

"Trapped?" I asked incredulously. "Just what the hell were you—aagh!" My head suddenly started hurting.

"Nyahaha" Hanneko said. "Sorry about that. But don't worry, that should go away after a couple of days. Unfortunately it won't kill you."

I was irate. I grabbed Hanneko by his neck and pulled him so that our eyes met. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?" I asked angrily. "Why the hell did you send me to the office?!"

"Nya..ha…ha," his laugh faded. I let go of him.

"You know, Nyakauchi," he began as he faked regaining his breath. "I like you. You're lucky I like you enough to keep you around for a little while longer. I have an ultimatum for you."

"Not interested," I said. "I'm done with you bullshit."

"Nya, hear me out here, Rinnie," said Hanneko. "I thought you'd be interested in anything that could help you and your friends leave this school."

I stood and turned away from him. Naturally, I wouldn't believe him for a second. I went to the door, but seeing that there was no doorknob, I silently cursed myself for existing.

"Let me out of here," I commanded. Hanneko laughed.

"I'll tell you how to get out of here if you listen," Hanneko said. I sighed heavily. Well, whatever happens couldn't get much worse than this. The others are pretty smart, so they'd figure out something was wrong quickly.

"If you figure out who's behind this, I'll let you bastards free to the outside world," meowed Hanneko. "Simple as that!"

"So… Just for figuring out who's behind you, we can get out?" I asked.

"Nyaho! You're correct—BUT! You have to figure out yourself. You can't get help from anyone else, and you can't discuss figuring out with anyone else in the school. In fact, you have to try to convince anyone otherwise if they bring it up."

That's… Pretty stupid, to be honest. "What exactly is the point in that?" I asked. Hanneko sighed.

"I knew you'd ask something stupid like that," said Hanneko. "I can't tell you _everything_ just yet. Anyway, if someone that isn't you figures out, then the deal's off. Good luck~"

With that, Hanneko disappeared into the bathroom. Upon opening it, I noticed that he had vanished. Considering there were no vents or hidden doors, it seemed impossible for Hanneko to escape, so it'd be impossible for me to escape through there. Ugh. There's got to be some way… Maybe I could break down the door…

I walked to the door to inspect it further. Yep, no doorknob. Now, what can I use in here to—

"Welcome to challenge room number one. If you are interested in escaping, press enter." A cool female voice called through a speaker in the room. So, I'm in challenge room number one. This must mean that there's at least two of these rooms. There may even be one for everyone here…

The female voice continued. "Here you will be asked to fix five problems. If you solve all of them before the end of the day, then you may exit this room. If not, then the escape system in this room will self-destruct. You will find problem number one in the place the light never sees."

What the hell does that mean? This entire room is lit. Well, except for the closet. After walking over to open it, I found a Hanneko doll. Well, I call it a doll since there's no sign of life in it. Underneath its paw was a piece of paper.

"Nyahaha! I knew you'd think of something so typical from the get-go. Try thinking outside the box next time, bastard!" I read aloud. I can't believe I didn't expect that. I crumpled up the paper and threw it at a wall. I thought a day would be enough, but with no sense of time here and no idea what I'm even supposed to do, this may take longer than expected…

* * *

><p>"Duuuuuuuuude! We can't be trapped in here like this," said Furuda-kun. Well, it looks like we are trapped here. After he stepped on a sensor, we learned that we were trapped here… Possibly forever…<p>

I can't believe this! We've been losing our friends left and right, and now we're even more trapped in this God-forsaken school! I hadn't realized I'd started crying until Furuda-kun stopped sulking.

"Nooo! Tobi! Please don't cry," said Furuda-kun. "There's gotta be a solution! This riddle… Can't be that hard! Figuring out where it was was probably the hardest part! It can only get easier from there…"

At this point, Bunpei had started crying. Seeing this helped me realize how disgraceful I looked. I tried my best to stop crying, and sighed.

"Okay, Furuda-kun," I said. "Time to solve this problem."

* * *

><p>"Think you've got what it takes to solve this case?" I read aloud, although there was probably no point. The only other person in here is more than likely going to be absolutely no help.<p>

"Ne ne, Megane-kun," said that incessantly annoying girl. I made a loud sigh in an attempt to convey my obvious frustration. It didn't work.

"What?" I asked. I never really knew how to refer to her, since she insisted on giving herself a ridiculous pseudonym. Even so, after figuring out who's behind this and stopping them, I won't have to worry about even seeing her again.

"What if we don't make it out of here? We'll be stuck here forever," she reminded me. Well, I certainly wasn't lacking in motivation.

"Don't remind me," I said. She continued chattering.

"Nyan… We'll be stuck here… Just the two of us… issho ni… in a confined space… heheheheheh," she giggled. Didn't take long for that to take a turn for the deplorable. I take it she didn't notice my discomforted shutter. At that point I decided to just finish reading this story.

* * *

><p>"It's dark, and four travelers are stuck on one side of a bridge in the woods. All of them need to cross to the other side. The problem is that the bridge appears only to be strong enough to hold two of them at once, and the group only has one torch to guide them, so someone may be making round trips. If Tanaka takes one minute to cross, Fujisaki takes two, Hanamura takes five, and Yamada takes ten, can you get them across the bridge in the shortest time possible?"<p>

Ah! I remember reading something like this in math class once. The least amount of time it should take is seventeen minutes. As for how they cross in seventeen minutes… I don't exactly remember.

"Jaaaaaaay," called Irina. "I know that if we solve these riddles, we get out of here, but why would we wanna do that?" I've been really worried about her lately. A couple of the others seem to think she's only going to cause trouble, but Irina's probably just stressed out about being stuck here. I mean, I'm pretty sure we all are, but she's not handling it very well at all…

"Come on, Jay," she continued. "We could just stay here and enjoy each other's company forever~"

"Irina," I said. "We're more likely to starve to death than enjoy each other's company in this situation." Irina plopped back down on the bed.

"Meh, I guess you're right," she mumbled. "Plus, if we stay like this, we won't be able to see everyone again. My love will start to miss me!"

Gah. She's been going on about this "love" person for several days now. Earlier, she'd say that it's not good to have any kind of relationship in this situation. Even so, we've still been able to make friends, enemies, and unlikely allies. It would be just like a school if we weren't all being killed.

"Say, Irina," I began. "Who exactly is it that you 'love'?"

She sat back up. "Hm… I love everyone," she said. "That's why I want us all to stay here. The outside world is dangerous. If we can keep peace here, we can live together in harmony. If we get out, we'll have to part ways for good."

I guess that makes sense. But I'd still rather have a choice in where I live and how I live my life. Seeing the same six people could get old soon, even if there somehow ends up being more. Plus, I don't think I could ever live here comfortably knowing how many people died here…

"Buuuuuut," she continued. "If you're wondering about a different kind of love… I don't want to tell you that, huhu." She giggled like a child hiding a secret. I guess hiding that is fine. It's not like it'll become a life or death issue. Life or death… Right. Back to this riddle.

* * *

><p>This sucks! I haven't made any progress trying to figure out where this "case" is. Every place I try ends up being wrong as soon as I open it. Why have that "light" riddle, anyway? What's even the point of this?!<p>

I stood up and kicked the nearest wall. Not exactly the best idea since I wound up falling to the floor, but it did help release some frustrations. I rolled over closer to the bed and tried to get back on it, but a realization stopped me. This bed is bolted to the floor, so unless someone had a flashlight…

Well, it couldn't hurt to check. I slid underneath the bed and tried to grab for anything I could find. Surely enough, I managed to grab on to a piece of paper and… An ElectroID? I guess this riddle might be more important right now… I think I already know whose ID this is, anyway.

"Think you've got what it takes to solve this case?" I read the entire riddle aloud in the hopes that my ears will catch something that my eyes don't see, but since this is a math riddle, it might not be that easy. I read the riddle again carefully.

"Nya-nyan!" Called the ever-so annoying voice of Hanneko. I turned to find him sitting next to me.

"What this time?" I asked.

"Well, since you're working on this on your own, I figured I'd give you a hint. The shortest time it takes to get everyone across is **seventeen minutes.**"

I thought about that for a while. "Wait," I began. "What do you mean 'on my own'? Did you trap everyone else in these rooms?!" Hanneko only giggled.

"I can't give everythi—"

"You know what, I'm not interested. I'm pretty sure I already know the answer. Speaking of answers, this riddle is pointless! If they're in the woods with a torch, why don't they find some branches and make a **NEW FREAKING TORCH?!** Then, if Tanaka goes with Fujisaki and Yamada goes with Hanamura, all four of them could cross in twelve minutes." My ranting seems to have caught Hanneko off guard, since he stayed silent for once.

"That's a pretty good point," said Hanneko. He then laughed. "You know what, Nyakauchi? I'll allow it. Thinking outside the box always impresses me, whether it be solving riddles or planning murders!"

I don't believe this bullshit.

"Anyway," said Hanneko. "Be sure to keep up with these riddles. They have your clues for escaping. Later-nya~"

So… I guess I got a bit closer to getting out of here. I should see how much time I have left using the ElectroID…

I clicked the device open and waited for it to power up. I was greeted immediately by a robotic female voice.

"Welcome to the device of Nezumi Muon. Please state your name," the voice said.

"Uh… It's Rin. Nakauchi," I answered.

The look on the hologram's face immediately changed. "Oh, it's Rin-chan!" She said this with a smile. An awkward pause.

"… I'm glad to know you're okay~" she said. "Wait," she began again. I detected a hint of alarm in her tone.

"What?" I asked?

"What's my family name?" That was kinda odd…

"Well, I recently learned that it's Muon," I replied in what I took to be a cold tone. Her tone changed to disappointment.

"Oh. Well, I guess you know then," she said. More silence.

"I didn't cry this time…" This didn't really seem to be directed at me. Even so, I guess she didn't cry this time…

"I bet not," I mumbled. I looked down at the device. No dialogue was exchanged at this time. It was only when both the device and I noticed something wrong that the silence was broken.

"Rin-chan," she asked. "The sensors on this device are detecting moisture. Are you alright?"

Of course not. The device powered down before I got a chance to respond. Oh, well. According to this, it's still morning. I still have the rest of the day to get out of here.


	23. Chapter Five: Alumni

**Hello~ **

**So, the update before this one took a pretty long time to get done. For that, I apologize. My computer kept shutting down on me, so it was harder to make the last chapter TT-TT. It hasn't been doing that recently, but I'll end up having to go back to weekly updates, unfortunately. School's starting back up, and I need to focus on that as much as possible. **

**On a more story-related note, I now have a solid idea of how much longer this story will be. Triple Dangan Ronpa will come to an end at around thirty-five chapters (give or take a few). Also, this riddles arc will last for one more chapter past this (even though I intended for it to end here, but the chapter became too long). I'm planning on having the last part to the arc released on Friday, and after this, I'm going back to Tuesday releases. In any case, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter~**

* * *

><p>"So… Got any ideas, Tobi?"<p>

Tobi outstretched his arm to get the piece of paper showing the riddle. Soon he was at the desk analyzing the story.

"Furuda-kun, I'll need your help," said Tobi. "Your memory's pretty good right?"

Well… I used to think so, but I'm not so sure… "I guess… Maybe," I said. Tobi nodded.

"In any case, come over here. I don't think this desk has any pencils I can use," he said. Yes! I'll be able to help after all. I walked around to the desk and stood so that I could see the riddle.

"Remember this," said Tobi. "Tanaka takes one minute to cross. Fujisaki takes two, Hanamura takes five, and Yamada takes ten. If Tanaka and Fujisaki cross, then that's two minutes."

"Right. Two minutes," I repeated.

Tobi continued. "Tanaka should go back to get somebody… If he gets Yamada and takes him across… Furuda-kun, so far we're at thirteen minutes, right?"

Yeah, should be. I nodded in agreement. But… That seems too expected for some reason. With the fastest guy leading everyone across, it'll take about twenty minutes… Probably. Tobi seemed to catch on to that though.

"Wait, never mind," he said. "If Tanaka hands off the torch and lets Yamada and Hanamura cross, then that's thirteen minutes total. Then if Fujisaki goes back with the torch and gets Tanaka, that's a four minute round trip… They can all cross in seventeen minutes."

That was pretty quick. "Good job, Tobi! That was awesome!"

Tobi seemed to smirk a bit, but it faded away soon. "Thanks," he said. "Math was one of my best school subjects, so that probably helped. But… Is that really the shortest time?"

"According to the actual solution, yes," said a new voice. Tobi and I turned to see Hanneko sitting on the bed. "Good job! You guys aren't the last group to solve this riddle! However, you are the penultimate group."

Penultimate? "You seriously have the others trapped in these rooms?" I asked incredulously.

"I thought we established that earlier," commented Tobiki.

"Yeah," said Hanneko matter-of-factly. "Whatcha gonna do about it? Huh? Huh?"

I sighed. All we can do is get out of here and try to bust everyone else out. You know, if they need it.

"Anyway, be sure to tell your darling Ko-chan about your experience here if you get out, nyuhuhu," said Hanneko. I felt my face twist up in anger.

"Don't you dare make fun of her," I said. I could hear my voice shaking.

"Nyahaha, I didn't say anything mean about her. Actually, it's kinda sweet that you communicate with her AI every day. Pretty weird, but sweet," blabbed Hanneko. At this point I tried to ignore him, but I didn't want anybody to know about that! Gah, I hope Tobi can keep a secret.

"And keep up with these riddles if you want to get out. They have hints. Bye bye~"

We didn't watch him leave. We sat quietly for a while. I was too embarrassed to say anything…

"… It's okay," said Tobi. I just noticed that he turned to look at me. I sighed.

"Please don't tell anybody else," I begged.

"Don't worry," he said. "I understand completely." Tobi smirked, but something about the gesture was sad. Never realized it was possible to smirk sadly…

"So…" I said in an attempt to break the silence. "How are we supposed to find the next riddle?"

* * *

><p>"Ne, ne, Megane-kyun~" I cooed. The cool guy with whom I was trapped ignored my calls. That's fine, I guess. I'm kinda used to being ignored, so it didn't offend me as much as it should have.<p>

"What is it this time?" I guess I spoke too soon. Tougo decided to speak to me.

"Can I have a look at that riddle?" I asked. Surprisingly, he handed over the paper without protest.

"See what you can do," he said as if he didn't expect me to do much. I stared at the paper for a while and thought.

"Hm…" I said. "If Tanaka goes with Fujisaki, then goes back to let Yamada and Hanamura cross, Fujisaki could take the torch from them and bring Tanaka back to the end. Then they can go to whatever they were trying to go to~"

Tougo stared at me in disbelief. I handed the paper back to him and saw his eyes widen.

"…It'll take them seventeen minutes," he said. "I'm not sure if they would be able to go by in a shorter time."

"Yeah, not really," said Hanneko. I didn't even notice him. He just comes and goes like a ghost…

"Please leave," said Tougo. So straightforward.

"Nya, but I have important information for you," said Hanneko.

"What is it?" I asked.

He turned to me. "You guys need to keep these riddles in mind when you figure out how to get out of here. And hurry up! Everyone else is waaaaaay ahead of you now."

"I wasn't aware of this being a competition," said Tougo.

"Don't worry, it's not," said the cat. "But who wants to be the loser that figures everything out last? I know I wouldn't. Anyway, I've got other kids to harass. Deuces." He left. Tougo decided not to waste any time in trying to find the next riddle.

"Hey," he said. It took me a while to realize he was actually trying to talk to me.

"Oh! Hai?" I responded.

"Help me figure out how to get to the next riddle," he commanded. I walked over to the desk where he sat. I'm not sure exactly how we were supposed to find it with no hints. Then again…

* * *

><p>Jay looked underneath the lampshade and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Wow," I said. "You're so clever, Jay!" She just giggled a little bit.<p>

"It's nothing," she said. "It's like a scavenger hunt. If I didn't find it here, I probably would have searched everywhere."

She probably would have. Jay's the kind of girl to not leave a single stone unturned. That's the primary reason why I've been keeping her busy. A certain someone thinks she's in the way and could possibly mess up their plans. We wouldn't want that, now would we?

"A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him completely underneath a fluid for several minutes. To make sure everything's done, she finishes by hanging him. Her children go about their normal daily routine knowing what the woman has done, and she's received nothing but compliments after showing her neighbors and friends the result. Law enforcement doesn't even seem to care. How did she get away with this?" Jay finished reading the riddle. Her eyes zoomed across the page again. Ah, well. I'll let her think about this for now, then conveniently hint at the answer.

"… Who the hell lets someone get away with something like that?" She looks confused. Huhu, yes. Who, indeed.

* * *

><p>"Maybe… They live in a world where laws and morals don't exist?" I said to myself. A crime like the one in this riddle certainly warrants jail time. Wait… It's a riddle, so there's probably some kind of twist to this story…<p>

"It never says a crime happened, did it?" I muttered. "The shooting and drowning and hanging must refer to something else…" Something common, probably. I walked around the room once again. A picture featuring a group of kids around my age hung on a wall. It had a slight, yet noticeable slant. The kids featured in the image seemed to be posing for a class photo. You could see how happy they were to be together in the photo. Well, except for a couple of kids with glasses in the background with unhappy faces. Still, they probably were happy to be there.

"Huh," I said. "I bet these guys have never had to go through anything like this."

"Nyan," said Hanneko. I turned to see him standing behind me.

"What now?" I asked. If he sensed how irritated I was, he hid it pretty well. Then again, Hanneko's expression doesn't change very much.

"Nyakauchi," he said. "I see you noticed that class photo. Anything about it stand out to you?"

"Yeah," I said. "That blonde kid with the glasses reminds me of Tougo." Hanneko looked at the image.

"Hm… I don't see it," he said. "But I'll be sure to tell Hanyai that even while you were trapped, you still thought about him, even going so far as seeing him in another Hope's Peak alumnus! Nyahaha, imagine how flustered he'll be!"

I tried to ignore that comment, but something about it got to me. "Wait! These kids… Are they Hope's Peak students?"

"Former," said Hanneko. "But that was pretty long ago… Long enough for most of them to have died off!"

I looked at the picture again. Hard to believe some of these guys are dead. They still look so young and lively… But why this particular class? I don't see any pictures of any other class… These kids… One of the girls in the foreground…

"Sensei?" I said. "The teacher in that dream I had… That couldn't be her, right?"

"Huh? Dream?" Hanneko asked. "What, you saw that one with the weird ponytail? Seeing people you've never met before, huh? Maybe you have some kind of psychic ability, kukuku!"

I groaned loudly. That wouldn't make any sense. Hanneko said most of these guys are dead, but the teacher I saw was still pretty young. It must have just been a dream. It couldn't be that girl… Unless…

"Hanneko, did these kids—" I began to say, but cut myself off once I realized Hanneko disappeared again. Ugh.

What's up with this picture? Picture… I remembered the dilemma in the riddle… The "murderess" may have really been a photographer.

"She's a photographer!" I exclaimed for no real reason.

"Good job on that one, loser!" Hanneko said. "The woman in the riddle—I'll just refer to her as Koizumi-san—was simply a Super High School Level Photographer! Koizumi-san 'shooting' him was just her taking his picture. The fluid thing was her developing the image, and hanging him up was referring to the picture of her husband being hung to dry."

"Dude, you may as well have just stayed here," I said. But I never realized how bad any of those things sounded out of context.

"Well, I can tell you were disappointed that no one actually died," said Hanneko. "But don't worry! You can put your skills to the test in the next story!"

I really wasn't disappointed. In fact, I'm elated. All this means is that I'm almost halfway done. Then I can try to get everyone else out if I need to. So, that last riddle's twist was about photos.

"Then, the next one," I said as I began to analyze the photo again. "Maybe if I look at this picture…" I adjusted the photo mindlessly, and a folded piece of paper fell out. Yes! That was too easy.

* * *

><p>Huh. Such a heinous crime. I read and the story and tried to figure out what could possibly have kept this woman from being arrested. Maybe… She has connections to important government officials and managed to stay out of jail?<p>

"Hey…" Furuda-kun called to me from across the room. "Maybe she's a member of a lawless society, or she was a secret agent ordered to kill her husband…"

"Even if she was a secret agent, why would she go through so many steps just to make sure her husband's dead?" I asked. That doesn't make any sense… "But the lawless society idea kinda makes sense," I added quickly. "Do they live in a place with no laws?" I asked. I figured saying our thoughts aloud may summon Hanneko, but he's not here. Maybe we have the wrong idea…

"Hey!" Furuda-kun said excitedly. He appeared to be looking at something on the wall. I went over to look at the picture that Furuda-kun also saw.

"…What about it?" I asked. It looked like a bunch of kids sitting around enjoying a normal school day. I'm guessing the feeling I'm currently experiencing at seeing it could best be described as jealousy.

"Look at this girl," he said as he pointed to a girl with long silver hair and gloves. I looked as closely as the photo would allow, but couldn't figure out what stood out about her.

"What about her?" I finally asked.

"She's kinda cute," he said. Even though it wasn't what I was expecting him to say, it didn't surprise me at all that he said it.

"Furuda-kun…" I said.

"Actually, that's not all there is to this picture," he said. "Do you think there's some reason why Hanneko would put this one in here? These guys all look like students… Maybe they're some Hope's Peak alumni…"

Maybe… But this picture—

"Made any progress yet?" Hanneko asked out of the blue, interrupting my thoughts. Well, I guess the summoning idea kinda worked…

"Gah!" Furuda-kun yelled.

"Honestly, will you guys stop that?" Hanneko asked. "At this point, you should expect me to appear suddenly."

"We'd rather you just leave us alone," I said.

"Anyway," said Hanneko. "I see you noticed the alumni. Interesting group of kids, from what I've heard."

"So they did go to this school," Furuda-kun said. "How long ago was that?"

"Long enough for most of them to have died off," said Hanneko. "Anyway, keep looking at that riddle, guys. Staring at girls isn't going to get you out of here." After that, he left us to our own devices. Honestly, I wish he'd have been more help while he was here bothering us.

* * *

><p>I read the piece of paper I procured from the lampshade. Once I was done reading to myself, I showed the story to the person with whom I was currently sharing a space.<p>

"Puu… This is hard, Megane-kun," she said. So, that last solution she came up with was just a fluke. I knew I shouldn't have expected much from her. I went to get the sheet of paper back out of her hands and read it again. She meandered about as I did this.

"Why would this happen?" I asked myself. Such a vile action, though. It disgusts me to think someone could do this.

Even so, solving riddles like these is always an enjoyable activity. Those who manage to crack these cases manage to impress me even to this day. Yet, after meeting someone with such a skill, it's left me wishing I still had my old notions of what such a person would be like. I feel that my old image may have been ruined.

"Hora, Megane-kun," she said. "Come over here!"

I decided to cooperate. As I got there, she began to point at a framed picture featuring a group of adolescents in gym clothes, either before or after playing some sort of game, I think. Probably old students. For some reason, one of the girls stood out to me. She looked like the kind of person who knows more than she should at her age, yet she also seemed like someone it'd be hard to know a lot about… In short, she seemed mysterious.

"Oooooooh," said the girl next to me. "You're looking at that girl the same way you look at Rin-tan, hehehe~"

I didn't realize I'd started grimacing. Anyway, even though I'm almost certain I'll never meet this girl, I apologize if my expression offended her. I decided to ask about a more relevant matter.

"Do you think this photo might help solve the riddle?" I asked. The girl tilted her head and made a pensive humming sound.

"Maybe," she said. I sighed again. I didn't really see what was too important about this image, so I began to walk back towards the desk. As I did this, I noticed an image being projected on one side of the door. It's not the keypad that was promised to us, but a projection of a woman. This woman, albeit much older and with shorter hair, looked a lot like the mysterious girl in the photo. I tried to hide how startled I was.

"Tougo Hanai," said the projection. "You are currently in grave danger."

Maybe she's not as sharp as I thought she was. But…

"Exactly what do you mean by that?" I asked. "And who are you?"

"There is a student hiding within the school now," she said, ignoring my second question. "The Super High School Level Despair has managed to trap you all in here, and now that everything seems to have come to a standstill, this student may be trying to eliminate you all using tricks. You need to find us as soon as you get out. The code to leave—"

… Well, I'm not sure if that was really any help. The feed was cut off right before she told me how to get out of here.

"… Megane-kun," said the girl. "Who was that? Did she tell us how to get out of here?"

"While I hate to be the bearer of bad news," I began, "she really wasn't of any help."

The girl looked towards the floor. "Oh," she said dejectedly.

"Still," I continued. "She did provide a helpful hint. I think I may even have a better idea of who's behind this."

"Oh!" she said, impressed. "You can totally figure it out, Megane-kun! Ganbare!"

I can and will figure it out, but I probably won't be able to on my own. Before that, though, I need to figure out how to get out of this room.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Jay," said Irina as I began reading the fourth riddle. Hanneko handed it to us himself this time. She stood by the door.<p>

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Do you think we have an unlimited amount of tries when—"

"You have entered four incorrect codes," said the female voice from the speaker near the projector. "If you enter one more incorrect code, the projector will self-destruct, thus destroying the motion sensor keypad that would allow your escape. Please try to be more careful in the future."

I stared blankly at the story as I listened to the voice. I could hear Irina stepping away from the door.

"I don't believe this," I whispered. Now we only have one more chance to try to escape! I should have been able to figure out these riddles sooner. This probably wouldn't have happened.

"I messed up," said Irina sadly. "Oh, well," she said. Her tone became lighter. "At least I'll be stuck with such an important friend. We'll be able to spend the rest of our lives together~"

"We're not going to be stuck in here," I said. "If we don't get out by our own skill, the others—"

"Do you really have that much faith in those people?" Irina asked challengingly. Why would she ask something like that?

"Of course!" I said. "We've been through too much together to abandon anyone. One of them will come to save us…"

"Then…" Irina began. "Why haven't they come yet?"

Why… Of course I know why. "They're all probably trapped like we are," I explained. Irina giggled.

"Huhu, what if they've already escaped? Most of them would probably think 'oh, those two girls are missing. If they both die, I could get rid of two more of these bastards and get out of here! I'm less likely to be caught, and I could blame someone else'. If you had that opportunity, Jay, wouldn't you take it?" I can't believe what Irina's saying. Of course I wouldn't! And neither would anyone else here.

"You're wrong," I said. "We all share a bond. We've been together and made it through so many trials these past few weeks. No one wants to kill, and no one wants to go through that experience again."

"How naïve," Irina responded quickly. "No one here cares enough about us to go out of their way to bust us out. We only have each other to rely on, Jay."

She's so wrong. The others do care… I'm sure…

"Sigh… Just help me solve this riddle," I said finally. I'm tired of arguing. Time to check out this case Tori Kudo has taken on.

* * *

><p>"'Detective Tori Kudo arrived at the Nekuro Apartment Complex, the scene of the crime, promptly at eight o'clock. Before her was a body being roped off by crime scene tape by a couple of the cops, who were having a little difficulty due to the blowing wind. Her partner, Ogawara, greeted her and explained the situation.<p>

"The man's name is Daichi Mibara," he said to her as she took notes. Something about that name seemed familiar for some reason. "He was spotted first by a man walking his Maltese around six this morning. Time of death is estimated as some time between midnight and six, when he was spotted. It is believed that he has committed suicide and died upon impact, but we were called it to try to detect any foul play."

"Of course, it's natural to cast doubt," said Kudo. "Anything else you think I need to know?"

"Uh…" Ogawara thought for a moment. "Not really. Except for this." The young investigator pulled out an old tape recorder and hit play.

"I apologize for the sins I have committed," said the voice of Mibara. "To my family and my friends, I bid you goodbye." After this, the wind started blowing loudly. The recording ended with what Kudo assumed to be the sound of breaking bones. In case there may have been a hint in the recording, she asked Ogawara to play it again.

"Was this man a resident here?" Kudo asked.

"They were going to check on that when they were done here," he said to her as they walked around the corner to the lobby of the building. The two immediately went to speak to the woman at the desk, who sulked obviously.

"Nooooo," she wailed. "Mibara-kuuuuuun! I can't believe it."

"Ahem," Kudo said, trying to get her attention. "Are you an employee here?"

"Oh," she said. "Yes! In fact, I'm the manager! I'm pleased to meet you, Miss…?"

"Detective Tori Kudo," said the detective. Inspector Ogawara greeted himself as well.

"Ah! You're both detectives? Maybe you've seen Mibara's show, _Done_! It's a shortened version of the word 'whodunnit'," said the girl enthusiastically. "I was—no, I _am_—a huge fan of his!"

"His show? I'm guessing he's an actor, then," said Kudo. That's probably why his name sounded so familiar.

"Yeah, Mibara was pretty popular. Who'd've thought he'd respond to his popularity like this," said Ogawara.

"Anyway, has anyone else come to investigate his room? I'm assuming he was a resident here," said Kudo. The manager nodded.

"He was a resident," said the manager. "But no one's come to see his room yet. I have a master key, so I'll go with you." The manager left her desk to follow the investigators.

"Nah you don't need to," said Ogawara.

"Naaaw, I insist! I haven't left that desk since last night, so I kinda wanted a break," said the young woman. "Plus, it'll be like seeing _Done _in real life!" She led them to Mibara's penthouse apartment. Ogawara whistled impressedly.

"This place is pretty fancy," he said. Kudo agreed. She immediately began surveying the room.

"No signs of a struggle," she whispered as she looked around. She spotted a script on a desk, sitting next to a sickeningly sweet concoction in a mostly full cup.

"Ice cream and… root beer," she whispered.

"Oh! Yes, according to his fansite, his favorite dessert was root beer float," the fan explained. Kudo took note of that. While she did this, Ogawara opened the French doors leading to the balcony.

"Nothing particularly unusual to report here," said Ogawara from outside. Kudo and the manager walked over to the balcony and looked downward. Even from so high up, she could still see Mibara's body. The manager wailed in distress.

"Waaaaaaaah!" The girl cried. "I can't believe it! He's really gone… He always seemed so sunny… I can't believe he'd kill himself."

"Good, because you shouldn't believe it," said Detective Kudo. "Daichi Mibara was murdered."

Why would Detective Kudo believe this? Give at least three reasons'." I finished reading the lengthy story.

"So long," I whispered. But dang. This is a tough call. I read the story again and again.

"Wait," I said. "If he committed suicide, then why would he bother closing the window behind him? Someone else had to have done it."

"Thirty-three percent!" Hanneko exclaimed. "If you can figure out more than three things wrong, I might give you more hints~"

I didn't respond. Knowing Hanneko, his hints would probably be total bull. I went back to reading the riddle, this time more carefully than before. I tried to analyze every word carefully. Each one is important…

"The recorder has several suspicious things about it," I said. "If he had it on him when he fell from a penthouse floor, why wasn't it completely broken? Not to mention the fact that the recording stopped on its own. The murderer had to have brought it there himself. Assuming it wouldn't break, it would have kept playing until the police ended it."

"Nyahaha! So quick! You may just have a talent for this kind of thing, Nyakauchi," laughed Hanneko.

_Duh._ Great. I forgot about that.

"One more thing, and you can move on to the next riddle!" Hanneko said this excitedly.

I groaned. "Ah, come on! I already told you two things with the recording," I complained.

"One. More," said Hanneko. Ugh. I read past the part about the recording. I finished the riddle again... I think I've found the answer!

"According to the manager, Daichi Mibara's favorite dessert is root beer float," I began. "If I knew I were going to kill myself, yet decided to prepare my favorite dessert, I'd eat all of it. Still, it says the cup it was in was mostly full. I'm guessing the dessert was actually drugged—maybe even poisoned, so that the murderer could bring him to the balcony and throw him off."

"Excellent work," said Hanneko. "You've managed to figure it out impressively quick! And, since I couldn't think of where to hide it, I have to hand you riddle number four." Of course, after this, he handed me the fourth riddle. After I began reading it, I realized it was a continuation of Detective Tori Kudo's story. Now I get to figure out who the—

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" Huh? I heard a male voice from the speaker near the projector. I'm guessing it's not the cool-voiced announcer lady. I walked over to the projected image by the door. I was greeted by a relatively young man with light brown hair. While he seemed to have a harmless demeanor, his face suggested a more urgent attitude.

"I am," I said. I was immediately suspicious of this guy.

"I'm one of the New Hope's Peak Management Committee members, but I guess that's probably irrelevant now. Right now, you and the other students are in danger," he explained. Wha? If he's part of the management committee for this school and he's telling me this now…

"Explain yourself!" I yelled. "Why the hell have you trapped us in here?! We've been forced to murder each other! IS THIS SOME KIND OF SICK GODDAMNED EXPERIMENT?!"

The projection only stared at me. "I was afraid of this," said the man. "Your memories have been tampered with—you've probably suffered the most memory loss. You are Rin Nakauchi-kun, correct?"

I nodded, and he nodded in response.

"Listen," he said. "You need to find Ryoko and keep her from controlling the school. It's most likely that she's shown herself to you, but has kept her existence hidden from the others. We need to use you to weed her out."

"Who the hell is Ryoko, and why the hell should I believe you?" I challenged.

"Ryoko is a failed experiment," said the man. "You were observed as the one she communicated with the most. Therefore you are suspected of being heavily involved in this incident."

"Me?" I whispered. But… Ryoko? I've seen that name… I pulled out Nezumi's ElectroID and checked out the basic layout of this area. Surely enough, the name "Ryoko" traveled through the halls in this building, stopping in front of rooms adjacent to each other and mine. I guess the others don't have their ElectroIDs, since I can't find their names, but I know they've been trapped as well. She must have been hiding in the office, or even a completely different building since we've been here. Perhaps… Is this Ryoko chick the mastermind behind this?

"And as for why you should believe me," he began. "I've been through exactly what you're involved in. My name is Makoto Naegi, and I was a member of Hope's Peak's last class before despair took over the world."


	24. Chapter Five: Detective Tori Kudo

**So... I'm just gonna leave this here...**

**Finally, this arc is done! I was hoping it'd help move the story along, but I'm starting to feel like it did just the opposite ._. In any case, I should be back to a regular schedule for updates now (maybe), so I apologize for being so late TT-TT. (After everyone's out, there will be no more changing perspectives for a while if at all).**

**One last thing! If you have a tumblr account (or even if you don't have a tumblr account), please check out .com. I am currently working on character bios, and soon may even be able to post character concept art (in case you guys were wondering what the New Hope's Peak Students look like)... Yeah, I'm pretty bored.**

**I hope you at least don't hate this chapter! (Shit's gonna start to go down in the next chapter).**

* * *

><p>Makoto… Naegi. There's something familiar about that name. But everything about this seem suspicious. Why is this seemingly important guy waiting until now to say something about this? If he's been through this before, then why would he let his happen again? Question after question ran through my mind, and I found myself becoming angrier by the second.<p>

"Alright, I'm going to need you to explain everything," I said. "Who exactly is Ryoko? What the hell do I have to do with this, and if she's so close to me, how come I've never even heard of her before?!"

"I already told you," he said somewhat impatiently. "We believe your memories have been tampered with substantially. If you're not currently working with her, she probably has you participating in order to try to kill you."

Since it seems like she's trying to kill everybody, this didn't exactly come as a shock. But currently… IF I am working with her, why am I in the middle of this? From the looks of it, this girl's probably been looking on comfortably from the sidelines.

"Anyway," the man continued. "First you need to get everybody out of there. I believe you're in my room. The code to—"

Silence. It took a while for the realization to become comprehensible.

"Ugh," I groaned. He was going to tell me how to get out of here! If anything, such unfortunate timing seems to be the fault of the person in charge of this system. Hopefully I won't be punished for being found out. I groaned again, louder this time. I guess there's no putting off this riddle, then.

* * *

><p>"Minutes later, Kudo and Ogawara found themselves tracking down friends and relatives of Daichi Mibara, a recently deceased actor. The first relative they spoke to was his mother, retired actress Akida Mibara.<p>

'Mibara-san,' began Ogawara. 'I'm sorry for your recent loss, but we'll need a few moments to speak to you about this.'

'Oh, it's perfectly fine,' said the living Mibara. 'After hearing about his passing, I expected to be interrogated. So, just out of curiosity, have you got any idea who may have done it?'

'Well, we're here to get ideas about who killed him,' said Kudo. 'Now, when was the last time you spoke to your son?'

'Oh, I don't know, probably a couple of days ago,' said Mibara. 'I went over to give him a gift basket and congratulate him for completing _Done_. He seemed like he didn't really want to speak to me about it, though.'

Hm, Tori Kudo thought. Why wouldn't he want to talk about it?

Ogawara looked at her and figured out what she was thinking. 'Mibara-san,' he began. 'Do you have any idea why he wouldn't want to talk about it?'

'I might,' she said. 'When I visited the set one day, I overheard one of the directors talking about a spinoff starring the girl who plays his assistant. His character was slated to die in that episode, and the girl was going to take over his P.I. business. He was probably unsure what he could do after this, or upset that she would be continuing to star in her own show. That's why I put root beer and ice cream in his basket. He could make his own root beer floats if he felt bad.'

'Alright, thank you,' said Kudo. 'You're free to go.'

The woman seemed shocked that her questioning ended so early. 'All… Alright,' she said as she stood up to leave the room. Ogawara was confused.

'Kudo-san,' he began. 'Why did you let her go so early? We should have asked her more questions.'

'Because keeping her here would waste her time and ours,' she responded. 'Now, let's go talk to the actress Mibara worked with.'

The pair went to the set of _Done_, where Mibara's costar was known to hang around. Her face lit up immediately upon seeing them.

'Ah,' she said. 'Are you two here to investigate? I could tell immediately. You both have that "detective" look about yourselves.'

This'll be fun, Kudo thought sarcastically. 'Yes,' Kudo said. 'We want to know if you know anything about Daichi Mibara's case.'

'Well, don't know much besides the fact that he's dead,' said the girl. 'Eh, it's all good. He was gonna commit suicide in the show anyway. We could just have everything offscreen now. Oh, where are my manners? The name's Karen Hoshino.'

Ogawara and Kudo were both shocked at how horrible the woman was. She didn't seem to care a bit that her partner was dead.

'Uh,' Ogawara began, unsettled. 'I'm Shiro Ogawara, and this is Detective Tori Kudo. When was the last time you talked to Mibara?'

'Oh, it was just last night,' said Hoshino. 'Well, last evening. I went there around four and left at seven.'

'And exactly what were you doing there?' Kudo asked. Hoshino giggled.

'A little bit of this, and a little bit of that,' she said coyly. The duo began to feel uncomfortable.

'Uh…' Ogawara said.

'What?' Hoshino asked. 'Does that kind of talk make you uncomfortable? If so, you could stay here and I could help you become more comfortable with it.' The girl winked coquettishly at Ogawara, who continued to look uncomfortable.

'Anyway,' said Kudo. 'Do you know if anyone went to see Mibara after you left?'

'Either his brother or his lover went there after I left. He told me someone was going over there, but I couldn't hear exactly who. His brother is called Akira Mibara, if you want to track him down,' said the actress. 'Buuuut… His lover is a mystery. I don't know a thing about her.'

'Uh….' Ogawara began. 'If you two… wouldn't you be his lover?' The actress laughed.

'We were just friends,' said Hoshino. '… With some benefits.'

'Okay, I think I'm done here,' said Kudo. 'Thank you for your help, Hoshino-san. If you don't mind, I'll have Ogawara stay to ask you a few more questions. Have a nice day.'

'Wait, what?!' Ogawara asked, surprised. Karen Hoshino giggled.

'Don't you worry, big boy,' she said in a seductively creepy way. 'I'll take good care of you while Kudo-san's away, hehe~'

'Good luck,' said Tori before leaving the set. Now, she thought. Time to visit Akira Mibara.

…

Kudo drove to the apartment complex, where she was informed that Akira was cleaning out his brother's suite. She tried to arrive in time to stop him.

'Ah, it's Kudo-san!' The manager greeted her, but Kudo rushed past her to the elevator. She called out to Akira when she reached the room.

'Wait!' She yelled at him. 'What are you doing? The police still need to analyze this room!' The younger Mibara just scoffed at her.

'What harm is it gonna do to just get some things I want?' He challenged. 'Besides, the police have been here for most of the day. If there's something they didn't get, it's their fault for being so neglectful.'

Kudo felt the blood rushing in her head. I've never _hoped_ for someone to be the culprit, she reminded herself. She took a moment to cool down.

'Anyway,' she said. 'I have some questions for you. How did you get in this apartment?'

'The manager—Akari, I think her name was—let me in. She had, like, ten copies of his room key and she let me have one,' he said with a sigh. 'The cute ones are always the crazies.'

Kudo took note of this. 'Alright,' she said. 'When was the last time you were here? In fact, when was the last time you contacted your brother?'

'The last time I talked to my brother? Probably four years ago,' he said. Kudo was shocked.

'How do you go four years without talking to your brother?' Kudo asked.

'Elementary, my dear Watson,' he responded mockingly. 'All you have to do is hate his guts. I was the one who wanted to be an actor first, but mom supported him after he said he wanted to audition for a drama! He was always cold to us, but ever since he made it big, he's treated us like dirt! Mom deserved better than him for a child.'

A motive and a blatant lie, said Kudo. 'If you haven't spoken to him in ten years, how did you know where he lived?'

'Duh? Mom told me,' he said. 'She always told me whenever her darling Daichi was doing something big. She even told me he wanted to see me yesterday for breakfast. Of course, I didn't go.'

His words felt like daggers. Kudo could see that he had a seriously deep-seeded hate for his brother. But that didn't matter. It's possible to kill someone even if you're infatuated with them. Kudo walked to the table with the script and opened it while Akira Mibara struggled to open the doors to the balcony. It turned to a page with some lines Mibara was supposed to practice. _With feeling_, said the sticky note underlining some lines he needed to practice.

'I think I'm done here,' said the detective to no one in particular. She took out her cell phone and called Ogawara to the lobby of the apartment complex. She surveyed the penthouse once more before going to greet her partner.

'By the way,' she said to Akira. 'Being hateful's not good for your health. Keep it up and we'll have another Mibara funeral sooner than necessary.'

'Pfft,' was the last thing Kudo heard from him before leaving the penthouse. Kudo took an elevator downstairs to greet her assistant, who was frazzled and covered in red lipstick.

'Kudooooooooo-saaaaaaaaaan,' he wailed. 'I can't believe you'd leave me like that!'

'Did you find out anything else from Hoshino?' Kudo asked, ignoring his complaints completely.

'No,' Ogawara said. 'She didn't want to talk…'

'Alright,' Kudo replied. 'That's fine. I've already found out enough to know who the killer may be.'

Who does Tori Kudo suspect? Is it the doting mother, the promiscuous actress, or maybe the spiteful brother? Give three reasons for who you think the killer is, and remember to read the first part again." Tobi finished reading the story.

"There's definitely a trick here!" I yelled. "The brother is way too obvious, so it definitely wasn't him."

"Well, I guess we could mark him off our suspects list. We now have a fifty percent chance of getting it right," said Tobi. We were given a list, weren't we?

"Wait, Tobi," I said. "I think that list of suspects might be a trick by Hanneko. Isn't it possible that none of them did it?" Tobi frowned at the papers.

"Then who would it be?" He asked. That's a pretty good question…

"Maybe… Mibara himself?"

* * *

><p>"But we already know it's not a suicide," Tougo said.<p>

"We don't actually know that," I replied. "Hanneko made up this story, so he could have made a hetare na meitantei."

"There are too many clues in the previous story pointing out that it was not, in fact, suicide," he replied quickly. "Speaking of which, hand it to me. You don't seem to be using it."

Just to spite him, I began to read it and walked into the bathroom. I tried to ignore his complaints and concentrate on the story. After reading for a while, a realization suddenly struck me.

"Megane-kun!" I exclaimed as I swung the bathroom door open and accidentally hit him in the head, knocking his glasses off.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Tougo yelled questioningly. I tried to smile a sincere, yet sly smile.

"I know who the hannin is."

* * *

><p>"Knowing Hanneko," I said aloud. "The killer is probably the goddamned manager just because she wasn't one of the main suspects."<p>

"Good job, Nyakauchi," Hanneko said from wherever the hell he appeared. "But you still need three reasons as to how you know."

"Oh?" I asked. "The manager actually did it? You know I just made that up, right?" I turned to look at him. He stood still for several moments, then proceeded to bang his head against the wall.

"I can't believe it!" Hanneko said. "I. Gave. Away. The. Freaking. Answer!" He seems to be taking this mistake pretty harshly. My instinct was to try to console him, but then I remembered who he was.

"Well," he said once he stopped. "I'm getting bored of this anyway. At this point, I may as well just let you guys out."

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Nope," he meowed. "I just need to offer a new incentive. But since you already know, here's the last riddle," he said as he handed me a packet.

"Be sure to keep it safe, nya ha ha!" After that, Hanneko disappeared under the bed. I'm pretty sure the packet isn't in any danger, though. I began reading and rereading the last riddle when I began to feel an uncomfortable wetness on my feet…

"I don't believe this," I groaned.

* * *

><p>"Detective Tori Kudo just couldn't catch a freaking break. The day after she caught the girl who murdered that famous actor, she's found herself in a bar in a small town where a rich old man was found frozen to death. She decided to watch the television and drink her orange juice while she waited for a briefing from Ogawara before deciding to talk to some relatives.<p>

'In other news,' began the handsome thirtysomething reporter for the local news. 'The town's richest and most reclusive resident, Arturo Edogawa, was murdered this past Saturday around seven in the evening. I'm sure we'll all miss his philanthropic deeds. He is survived by his son and daughter, who are both expected to get a share of his wealth.'

'Ugh,' Tori Kudo groaned. She sat and wondered where Ogawara was just as he arrived.

'Kudo!' Ogawara exclaimed. 'I've been looking for you everywhere! We need you at the Edogawa estate right now!'

Kudo followed him out of the bar without protest.

'So,' she said. 'What's going on, and who are our suspects?'

Ogawara flipped through his notebook. 'Arturo Edogawa was found in the deep-freezer in his home this afternoon. The local police were tipped off by a mail carrier who suspected something was wrong when Edogawa didn't go to get a package he was expecting. He noticed it sitting in the same location two days in a row, which is unusual, apparently. Along with his two children, who each may have a motive, the mail carrier is also a bit suspect.'

'Huh,' said the detective. 'He was put in the deep-freezer?'

The inspector nodded. 'We haven't managed to figure out exactly why he was there, but the culprit managed to confuse the time of death. Edogawa's almost perfectly preserved.'

'Alright,' said Kudo. 'So, how do we know when…' She stopped talking once she noticed a mansion situated on a large plot of land.

'I guess we're here,' she said. 'I could picture the kids getting a pretty sizeable inheritance. No wonder.'

'Please don't be so cynical,' said the inspector. The two drove past the gates and along the road leading to the house. Police, inspectors, and news reporters became more densely populated around the entrance of the mansion. One cop was found interviewing the mail carrier.

'Yeah, he hardly ever leaves,' said the mail carrier. Kudo noted that he seemed like a trustworthy guy of about forty years of age. She wouldn't mind inviting someone like that in her own home if she were asked to.

The mail carrier continued speaking to the officer. 'Yeah, he told me a couple of weeks ago that he ordered a package and was expecting it to arrive around this time. He seemed pretty excited for it to arrive.'

A package he ordered a couple of weeks ago… so that gives an approximate time of death, Kudo thought. The stiff couldn't have been dead for more than two weeks.

'Ogawara,' said Kudo. 'Have the Edogawa children arrived yet?'

'Yes,' he said. 'One of them came as soon as we called her, but the other took a while to get here.'

'Alright,' said Kudo. 'Let's go meet them.'

Two police officers led them to the spacious living room, where the children of Arturo Edogawa sat.

'Waaaaaah!' The female cried. 'I can't believe daddy's gone. I just spoke to him last week… I knew I should have moved in to take care of him!'

'Pfft,' said the male. 'Quit pretending you gave a damn about the old man, you cow! You're just mad that he won't be able to fund your shopping and traveling habits!'

The woman looked shocked. 'Excuuuuuuuuuuuse me, big brother? I'm extremely upset by this, but it looks like you haven't even shed a tear! I wouldn't be surprised if you did him in yourself, you turd!'

'Ogawara, how old are these two?' Kudo asked.

'According to my notes, they're twins. Both are twenty-seven,' he responded.

I'd've never guessed it, Kudo thought. The siblings continued bickering.

'Me? You honestly think I'd kill my business partner?' The man glared at his sister accusingly.

'Business partner? Don't make me laugh! He was more like your cash cow since your business keeps going below its quota every single month! You probably killed him for the inheritance,' the woman yelled.

'I don't believe you!' The man yelled at his sister. 'If anyone here has a motive, it's you! Yeah, that's right! The old man told me that he was considering cutting you off until you got a job and stopped going to him for money! If he happened to die, you'd get your share of the money to do whatever your little cow heart pleases!'

'I'm not a cow, you turd!'

'Enough!' Tori Kudo was done with their bickering. 'I need to speak to the both of you. Which of you spoke to him last?'

'That'd be me,' said the woman. 'I apologize that you had to see that. My name's Alberta Edogawa.'

'Alright, Miss Edogawa,' said the detective. 'You spoke to you father last week?'

'Yeah!' She exclaimed. 'He seemed as lively as ever! Though, he was worried about making sure the house was in order the whole time. Apparently he had an interview he had to do for a magazine or something. Probably the biggest thing to happen in this small town, to be honest. I didn't speak to him since then…'

'How come I never heard about that?' The man asked.

'Daddy probably didn't like you, Alejandro,' said Alberta. 'You hardly ever talked to him anyway!'

'Not true,' said Alejandro. 'I spoke to him once a week! Or… Maybe every couple of weeks… Well, I know I talk to him at least twice a year.'

The love in this family is so strong, thought Kudo.

'No wonder I was his favorite,' said Alberta.

'Alright, you've helped a lot, Miss Edogawa,' said the detective. 'Now I need to speak to your brother.'

'Fu, alright,' said the woman reluctantly. The man then walked closer to the officers.

'Whatcha wanna know, guys?' Alejandro asked.

'So, you had a business?' Ogawara asked, wasting no time.

'Yessir,' said Alejandro. 'It hasn't been doing too well recently, but we're definitely going to succeed! The inheritance I'll get should help give it a boost!'

'Alright,' said Kudo. 'So, you've been borrowing money from you father. Is there more to your relationship?'

'Yeah,' he said. 'We used to go out as a family a lot, but since mom died five years ago, he's been keeping mostly to himself. He never seemed to want visits from us, so we just called occasionally. I thought he'd be fine, but then this happened…'

Tori Kudo thought for a moment. 'Okay, thank you for your time, Mr. Edogawa,' she said finally. She then left the room to go outside, followed by Ogawara.

'So, did that help any?' Ogawara asked. The detective nodded.

'Yes, it helped quite a lot,' said Kudo. 'We have a reclusive old man who's been frozen, thus making it impossible to know when he died. The killer was clever in that respect, but still managed to slip up. The suspects are his two children, who'll both benefit from the money Edogawa left behind, and the mail carrier who seems to have no real motive. I think I know exactly who did it.'

Who does Detective Kudo suspect?"

Jay panicked as she read this. "AGH! I WAS HOPING THIS WOULD BE EASIER!" She yelled. I giggled for a while.

"This is easier," I said. "Just take your time and think about the tricks Hanneko pulled in the last riddle." Jay glared at me.

"I can't take my time," she said. "Hanneko keeps dumping dirt in here! It's already up to our ankles everywhere!"

True. It seems that if we don't solve this riddle and get the codes fast enough, Hanneko will bury us alive. I never expected that to be my way to do, but at least I won't need a burial service~

"Irina!" Jay yelled. "Help!"

"Ugh, fine," I said. It's a good thing I already know the answer and the code to get out of here. It'd be pretty unfortunate for the both of us if I didn't. But for now… I'll keep her guessing.

* * *

><p>"Tobi! The vents have stopped working," said Bunpei. I went to look at them.<p>

"Not only are they not working," I said. "But the vents themselves sound like they're making sucking noises…"

It didn't take long to realize that the air in this room was slowly being sucked out. I slid down against a wall.

"We're doomed," I said finally. "We still don't know how much time we have left, and we have this whole new problem to solve."

"No!" Furuda-kun yelled. "I won't let you give up! We're almost out, man! We have one more riddle to solve, then we'll get the code and leave, and we'll find everyone else! We're so close!"

"Your speech isn't making me feel better," I said coldly. "But fine. Let's try again. Maybe we'll get lucky and have a really easy hint in this one."

* * *

><p>I calmed myself and tried to read this last story, but it seems that just being in the same room as this person is causing my blood to boil. If I've learned anything from this, it's that this girl is unspeakably irritating.<p>

"Ne ne, Megane-kun," she called. Just get it over with, Tougo. The sooner you talk, the longer she'll leave you alone.

"What?" I asked and turned to her. For once, she had a completely serious expression on her face.

"…Do you smell something burning?"

* * *

><p>The water is now up to my knees, but I think I'm close to a breakthrough on this one.<p>

_You're just wasting your time. The answer to this is plain as day, but I guess you wouldn't know that if you keep wasting time in here._

I thought I was rid of this, but this voice and the headaches have returned.

_Don't you think there's something suspicious about a certain character in this riddle?_

How? All of them are suspicious, obviously.

_Yes, but one of them slipped up and revealed more than should have been revealed._

… I'm not following.

_What time was Arturo Edogawa killed?_

"… He was killed around seven," I said, reading the story again.

_And how do you know that?_

It was in… some report… Someone reported his death as being that time… I gasped.

"The reporter is the killer!" I exclaimed. "It's impossible for him to have known the time of death if the body was frozen. Unless, of course, he had something to do with it…"

_Good job, genius._

"You have solved all five riddles," said the cool female voice from earlier. "If you don't want to drown today, please refer to the last page of your packet."

I did as she said. Can't take any risks today. On it was what seemed to be a set of instructions, and a few names…

"Ying Yanmei, Shinobu Murai, Kotaka Ido, Alice Darlington," I read. Why would Hanneko put their names on this list?

"Step One. Ignore every one," I read. Well… There's no one here. Maybe it's telling me not to pay attention to those kids' names?... I guess I'll keep reading.

"Step Two. Go to the highest point. Step Three. Make sure everything is in order before you can leave. Step Four. Don't forget your friends. We sincerely hope you enjoyed your stay in the Hotel Despair~"

Well, I most certainly did not enjoy my stay. But step four… it really struck, for some reason. Don't forget my friends…

Have I begun to forget about my friends? It seems like with each passing day, the kids that died before me are starting to matter less and less to me… But… That's understandable, right? In this situation, doesn't it make sense to think about yourself more than anyone? After all, the only one most of us can trust here is our own self...

_You're missing the point, dumbass. It mentions the four bastards that got themselves executed up to this point. You need four digits to input into the keypad. Think anything stands out about how they're listed?_

A little bit… They're not in order. Shinobu was the first culprit… Then Ying killed Tamaki, and Alice killed Ko. Kotaka's execution was the most recent… Ying was second, Shinobu was first, Kotaka was fourth, then Alice was third… Second, first, fourth, third…

I put the riddles on the desk. I considered putting them in that order, but there's one more… One extra… Maybe there's one that doesn't belong… Koizumi-san's riddle is the shortest. Maybe it has nothing to do with these others…

_There are no numbers in that one. Every other story you got had at least one number somewhere in it._

Then… if each one had a number… I put the ones with numbers in the order I decided from the names. Second being Mibara's case, part one, first being the bridge crossers, fourth being the reporter's story, and third being part two of the Mibara case…

_Remember it says "ignore every one" and go to the highest point. I shouldn't need to explain what that means._

It must want me to pick the highest numbers… But "ignore every one"? Maybe… There are no ones in the code… I sighed in relief, knowing exactly how I'm going to get out of this room. I collected the numbers and input the code I got. The water's at my thighs now, so I still have some time if it's wrong.

"Congratulations, Rin Nakauchi," said the voice. "In order to finally leave this room, just press Enter."

I eagerly pressed the projected enter button. I was so happy to leave that I didn't notice I had fallen into the water.


	25. Chapter Five: Pause

**So... I'm uploading this a bit early because I had it done, and I'm going to be busy tomorrow, so... Yeah. ****Also, some of you may have been wondering why "Parody" was changed to "Romance" in the story genres. There isn't really going to be much romance in this story (this chapter's probably as close as it's gonna get to actual romance), but I was curious about if anything would change by changing genres. So far, not much has. So... yeah. Enjoy~**

**Shit's gonna go down in the next chapter (to be released next Tuesday). If you want previews of the chapters, be sure to follow itshannekobitches on tumblr~  
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><p>I woke up to an artificial meowing sound. In looking at my surroundings, I was at least able to tell that I was no longer in the room and now I was in a hallway. The hallway itself was similar to the halls of the dorms, but they seemed older and less clean. The first person to greet me was Hanneko.<p>

"Good job, Nyakauchi!" Hanneko mewed. "You're currently the first to escape from the rooms. Aaaaand…" He looked at his wrist. "… It looks like we're going to be greeted with our second place soon!"

Jay and Irina stepped out of a room closer to the end of the hallway. The look on Jay's face when she saw Hanneko was nothing short of horrifying.

"YOU!" She yelled as she stormed toward us and pointed at Hanneko. "I have never wished death on anyone, but the one who controls you is coming within one percent of a quarter of an inch of—"

"Oh, look, here come two more people," said Hanneko, completely ignoring the furious Jay. Tobiki walked out of the door closest to what I'm assuming is mine first, but he was almost pushed over by Bunpei, who was standing close behind him and quickly rushed past him. Bunpei inhaled loudly soon after pushing past him.

"AIR!" He said rejoicefully. "Fresh… Well actually it's not too fresh, but Tobi! We can breathe!" Tobiki wasn't able to get a single word in before Bunpei began speaking again and held him by his shoulders. "Wait! We still need to make sure everyone's okay!"

"Uh, Furuda-kun," said Tobiki as he turned to look at us. Bunpei followed his gaze to see us as well.

"…Oh," he said. "It looks like everyone's okay."

"Actually," said Irina. "Neko-chan and Tougo-kun are still missing. What if they got buried under all the dirt?" I couldn't find a single trace of urgency in her voice.

"Dirt?" I asked. "Did Hanneko try to bury you guys? My room was being filled with… water…" Now that I think about it… I don't feel cold or wet at all. I ruffled my hair, but it was completely dry.

"If anyone's interested," Tobiki began. "We were almost suffocated in there. The vents started sucking air out of the room, and it was hard to tell how much longer we had."

"Oh? I thought that air comment was because one of you kept farting," joked Irina. _That was surprisingly crude of her._

Wait. If one room was lacking air… And another was being filled with dirt… I was being drowned…

I ran to the last door, where Tougo and Neko still have yet to come out. For some reason, I thought pounding on the door would yield results. I heard the others walking towards the door and stand behind me.

"Tougo! Neko!" I yelled. Agh! I frantically worried about how I was going to get them out of there. Wait! Hanneko should be set to explode if he's heavily assaulted. If I can attack him enough to set off the sensors, then throw it at the door—

"Ack!" I said. Suddenly, I was on the ground at the bottom of an extremely uncomfortable pile. Blonde hair and blue fabric dominated my sight.

"Aww," said Neko. "Rin-tan, I'm jealous!"

"Please don't be," I said. "You two are crushing me."

As I was saying this, Tougo immediately pushed Neko aside and stood up. She was now on the ground next to me.

"Megane-kun! That was so mean," said Neko, offended. He didn't seem to push very hard, but it was still a pretty rude gesture.

"You were sitting on top of me for too long. I apologize, but I'm not a very patient man," he replied coldly.

"You're barely a man at all," I whispered just loudly enough for Neko to hear me. She tried to hide her laughter. Tougo looked at us, then turned to Hanneko.

"It doesn't surprise me that you'd try to endanger our lives," he began. "In fact, it's almost expected. But why would you trap us in those rooms?"

"Huhuhu, said Hanneko. "I just thought it would be an interesting way to introduce…" Hanneko paused, probably for an artificial dramatic effect. "… The new building! Welcome to the final building of the school, you pajama-clad bastards!"

In looking around, I could see everyone's incredulous and blank stares.

"I'm leaving," said Jay. She held Irina's hand and took her with her.

"I wonder why she wouldn't want to stay," said Neko.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tobiki asked. "Every time a new building is introduced, someone dies. Sorry for being superstitious, but I think I'll leave as well." He walked away, looking for an exit. One by one, the other students began to leave as well.

"Are you staying to investigate?" Bunpei asked before walking away. I nodded.

"Well… I'll trust you with that. Return safe, Rin-chama," he said. After he left, I looked around to see who was left. Tougo turned to look at me as well.

"Please try not to get in my way," he said before walking away. I followed after him.

"Yo, Glasses," I said. "Did you see who trapped you in there?"

"No," he said. "I don't remember falling asleep last night, either. The last thing I remember is seeing someone's name going missing."

Someone's name? I didn't overlook anyone in seeing who got out of the rooms. Everyone there was alive after the final class trial… Oh, wait…

"Stop being so reckless," he said once I realized who he was talking about.

"Oh? Did I make you worry?" I asked teasingly.

"Yeah," he said. "No one else here is weird enough to analyze dead bodies, and the Monokuma Files are including less information. If you went missing, and another corpse turns up, we won't have anyone willing to do an autopsy."

"Good to know you care," I replied sarcastically. I'm ashamed of myself for not expecting that.

"Besides, I don't enjoy making inaccurate autopsies any more than you would," I said.

"Hmph," he grunted. "Just try to stay out of trouble."

We continued looking through this hallway. It's still pretty similar to the dorms in the main building, but it feels more… Abandoned. Nothing much stands out. The only sounds were those of our footsteps, which is creepy in itself. Something in me wants to try to break the silence, but I'm almost certain Tougo won't want to hear anything I have to say…

"So…" I began. "You're the Super High School Level Interpreter, right?" Smooth, Rin.

"That's why I'm here," he said. "We established that on the first day."

"So, what made you want to study languages?" I asked. He sighed in annoyance.

"I don't just _study_ languages," he said. "People study so that they can pass tests. I _learn_ them. My family used to travel abroad a lot, so I would hear a lot of different languages and wonder what those people were saying. Because of that, I decided to stay in Japan until I knew enough to go around the world without a problem. I was hoping to do so after graduating high school, but the situation has made that uncertain."

He seems excited about it. Well, I guess he should be excited considering he's dedicated his life to this.

"Is that why you want to get out of here so much?" I asked. "I mean, I know we—er, most of us just don't want to be stuck here forever, but is that what's driving you?"

"Of course not," he replied quickly. "What's driving me is making sure my family's okay. No one's tried to get us out yet, so the outside world probably has its own problems to deal with. I need to make sure my sisters and parents are okay."

"Oh, yeah," I said. "You did mention Ichigo before. How many other sisters do you have?"

"Just two total," he said. Silence followed this comment.

"You seem like the kind of person with a sister complex," I said. The mood from before I said that felt too awkward.

"I don't have a sister complex," he said firmly. Fucking liar. If those weird dreams are accurate, then that may explain part of the reason why he's so preoccupied with Irina. Why that kind of thing would worry me, I'm not sure.

"I'm sorry _I_ show concern for my family," he said. "Unless you were created in a lab like I originally believed, why wouldn't you show concern for your family?"

"Because I hate them," I said quickly. Tougo turned to look at me. He didn't say anything, but his expression was that of surprise.

"… I mean…" I'm not sure what to say. "I don't hate them, but it feels like they hate me… It's just my parents and me at home. They never showed any concern for me beyond getting me stuff I needed. They were never interested in what I did in school or what I was fascinated by or what extracurricular lessons I took. I guess you could call it resentment… That probably sounds really bratty, now that I think about it."

"Nah, I understand," he said. "Parents should pay attention to their kid, but it's also the kid's job to understand if the parent can't."

"Whatever," I said. "They never seemed to want to, even when they could."

"… Sorry," he said. Even when I don't mean to, I'm always able to create an awkward atmosphere…

"… We haven't done any actual searching, have we?" I asked.

"Uh… I guess not," said Tougo. "I'm going to the second floor, then. Don't do anything troublesome."

"Everything I do is troublesome to you, isn't it?" I asked. He only raised an eyebrow and smirked slyly, then turned to walk away.

"Jeez, what's with that guy?" I asked when I knew he wasn't within earshot. Oh, well. I should stop worrying about that. I walked down a particularly dim and unsettling hallway. It seems to be just classrooms here… If I had to guess, I'd say this is where most of the main classes happened. Extracurricular stuff probably used the dorms. Along the end of the hallway, I found a door with light peering out of the window. Upon opening it, I was greeted with a clean room illuminated by a white light. It was very spacious, so that made it hard to see what was on the opposite end. As I walked closer, the sounds of beeping became louder. It sounded like one of those things in hospitals that makes beeping noises to indicate that someone's still alive. I think it's called an electrocardiogram or something.

Anyway, when I reached the other end, I saw a row of bodies lying in hospital beds. All of their faces were covered with sheets of paper that might be printed out for nurses and doctors to look at. Each sheet had "comatose" written on it largely. Even though seeing these people lying motionless freaked me out, I stayed to look at more around them. Each one had a name written on a dry erase board situated above their bed. One name stood out to me the most.

"Makoto Naegi," I read. I walked to the bed of a particularly short man and lifted the sheet of paper obscuring his face. Surely enough, it was the man with whom I had spoken in the rooms. Several things aren't adding up. If this guy's been comatose for as long as it looks like he has been, then how was I able to speak to him in there?

"April fifth." I read this on the sheet I picked up. It's recorded as the date of admission, but the year's been inked out. We'd've been in school for our first term about a week later than that day… I took a mental note of my findings and turned to run (yes, run) out of the room. As I opened the door, I ran into another person.

"Ack! Itatatata," said Neko. I think I accidentally hurt her.

"Ah, sorry," I said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I had to go cut some of my hair that got singed, which is why I wasn't here before."

Why would her hair be… Oh, yeah.

"Right," I said. "Your room was set on fire, wasn't it? The one with you and Glasses?"

"Yep!" Neko said. "I guess you could say things got pretty hot with just the two of us in there, hehehe… But seriously, we almost died."

Against my better judgment, I laughed. Neko laughed as well, which made me feel relieved. If she didn't, I would've felt bad.

"I wonder what that was all about," she said once she managed to catch a breath. We started walking and talking to each other.

"He probably did it just to troll us," I said. "There was no real reward for making it out of there."

"Yeah, that's…" she began, but her sentence trailed off. She stared, wide-eyed at a red message on the wall.

"Beware of… Ryoko-chan?" Neko read. Her expression displayed fear.

"Rin-tan, this is like the kind of thing you see in horror movies! We're not gonna be killed here, are we? ARE WE?!" Her tone became increasingly more urgent.

"Of course not," I said. "Because we're about to walk away right now." I grabbed Neko's hand and power walked back to the hallway with the dorms.

"That was kowai," said Neko when we stopped. "Kedo… Who's Ryoko?"

Crap! Ryoko's probably the one behind this. If Hanneko finds out that Neko knows about Ryoko, he'll find some way to invalidate that ultimatum.

"That's probably something Hanneko made up to creep us out," I said. "You know, since there's a possibility of there being a hidden student. Like Luka was."

"… Oh. That makes sense," said Neko. "… But if it turns out she's real, she must be an unusual type of eccentric to use 'chan' at the end of her name."

She's totally calling the kettle black!

"Oh! There was something else I meant to ask," said Neko. "What was in that room you came out of earlier?"

… Double crap! I can't tell her that either! Just knowing about it myself is probably not good for me unless I act soon.

"Just some old files," I said. "None of them appeared to be useful, so I just left."

Neko squinted her eyes at me as if she could see the lie as it was coming out of my mouth.

"Hm… Okay!" She decided to leave the subject alone. Thank goodness. Tougo came along from the opposite end of the hallway.

"There's something you need to see," he said. He began walking, and I followed him to a large, heavily reinforced, intimidating steel door.

"… So, what you're saying now is this is the exit and we're definitely not getting out?" I asked.

"No," he said. "There is a way to get out, and this is it. All we need to do is figure out how to open this door."

"Uh… Shouldn't we prioritize figuring out who's behind this?" I asked. "It'll give us an advantage in trying to get out of here."

"Pfft," he said. "Really, that shouldn't be our first priority."

"Yes it should!" I said loudly. "If we want answers as to what's going on, we need to corner who's behind this and make him talk!"

"Hmph," he said. "As expected of someone like you. Such an answer is ridiculously impractical in this situation."

"Impractical?" I began. "What's impractical is rushing out with expectations and not considering the fact that they could be completely shattered. For all we know, all of our families could have been eliminated!"

Tougo looked affronted. "Whatever," he said. "It doesn't seem to be in my best interest to follow the advice of a person with an antenna sticking out of their head."

"That-that-tha…. That's an ad hominem attack!" I countered. "Besides, I can't help the fact that it sticks up. Even when I comb it down, it stays that way!"

"That doesn't surprise me at all," he responded. "It probably makes it easier for you to contact the mothership, doesn't it?"

"Are you insinuating that I'm an alien _and_ a test tube baby?"

"If the shoe fits."

"Well, I'm not gonna take that from some glasses-wearing nerd with a sister complex!"

"I don't have a sister complex!"

"MOOOOU!" Neko yelled. "Can you guys please stop?! We don't need to spend more time than necessary in this building. Megane-kun, did you find anything noteworthy?"

"No," he said. "Nothing but classrooms on all of the floors. There's just three, by the way."

"So, this is probably the smallest building," I said.

"Yeah," said Neko. "If that's all, then we should probably go. Buns fixed us some nikujaga, and I'm guessing you two haven't eaten since last night."

Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure I ate last night. I'll have to thank Bunpei for fixing us food. This place is definitely bad for my health.

"What time is it?" I asked. Neko pulled out her ID.

"It's still afternoon. We have several hours until nighttime," she responded. " Don't worry, you two can still spend the rest of the day together."

"As if I'd want to spend my day with _that_," Tougo said. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'll just go on ahead," said Neko. "Please try to play nice."

With that, Neko walked back ahead of us to the main building. I walked back as well, trying to go slightly ahead of Tougo. He managed to catch up with me.

"I still need to ask you something," he said.

"Shoot."

"Why did you go to the office in the first place?"

"I…" Why, indeed. "… I got a note saying to meet you there. I thought it was from you, but I realized too late that it wasn't …"

"Tch," he said. "I don't know what I expected, but I can't say I'm surprised."

I continued to look forward, but Tougo stepped in front of me and stopped my walking.

"For future reference," he began. "If there's something I want to tell you—especially if I'm asking to meet with you—I'll tell you using the ElectroID messaging system. That way, you know it's definitely from me and not anyone else. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, walking around him.

"I'm serious," he called from behind me.

"Aww," I said, trying to pitch my voice to imitate a certain blonde. "Megane-kun's, like, totally being a worried tsundere~ That's so kawaii!"

I managed to get at least one laugh out of him, even though it was stifled and kinda at his expense.

"You're still the worst," he said.

"Yeah, whatever," I responded. Finally, we arrived at the main building and walked to the cafeteria.

"Yo, Rin-chama," said Bunpei. "Did you guys find anything interesting?"

"Not really, no," I said. I can't let them know about Ryoko or the New Hope's Peak committee members.

"But there is a heavily reinforced door," I said. "It seems like it's the only way out of here, but there's also no chance of us breaking it down."

"Aw," said Bunpei.

"We could at least try," said Tobiki.

"But we don't really have anything that could break it down," I said. "We'll just have to think of something else."

We spent the rest of the day hanging around the cafeteria while Bunpei decided to try to learn to cook. I'm glad we're able to relax after all that utter bullshit Hanneko put us through. At some point, Jay and Irina came back in here. I couldn't help but notice that their socks and shoes were completely clean.

"Yo, Jay," I called to her. She and I walked toward each other so that we could keep our conversation private.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Did you change your shoes after coming back here?" I asked. She thought for a moment.

"No, I don't think I did," she said. Just as I suspected. Something was up with that final survival challenge Hanneko threw at us.

"Why do you ask?" She asked me.

"You said your room was being filled with dirt, right?"

"I don't—you're right!" She caught on quickly. "There's something definitely wrong with that."

"Right," I said. "Can you observe anything else that seems strange? I want to make sure I don't miss anything."

"Notta problem," she said.

"Jaaaaaaaaaay," said Irina. "I'm getting lonely over here."

"Coming!" With that, Jay gave a comprehending nod in my direction and left with Irina. We didn't make much progress on trying to get out of here, but it still felt good to not worry after that ordeal. Bunpei, Tobiki, and I left the cafeteria shortly before the nighttime announcements were made, and I did my best to make sure I wouldn't be dragged off somewhere in the middle of the night.


	26. Chapter Five: Fast-Forward

It's been a few days since we were trapped in those rooms. No one's visited the newest building since then. Honestly, nothing much has happened. The day after we visited that place, Bunpei, Tobiki, and I held a ceremony for Nezumi and the others. I haven't even seen Hanneko for a while (he certainly hasn't been trying to make us go to any classes). Without much going on, it's becoming pretty mundane around here.

I woke up that morning to the sounds of angry female yelling. I walked outside to find Irina standing (in some rather interesting sleepwear) outside Tougo's door. A mischievous smile that I haven't seen in a while rested on her face.

"Uh…" I began. "Irina…? What are you doing here…?"

"Oh," she said. "Hi, Rin-kun! I'm here to give a message to Tougo-kun." I turned to see Jay chasing after Tougo with a similarly angry expression to the one I saw a couple of days ago. I couldn't see Tougo's expression too well since his hair was in front of his face, but judging from Jay's face, I'd guess that it was that of utter fear.

_Aww. I'm sorry I won't get to see it._

"Alright," I said. The entire situation seems really suspicious. Neko came out of her room to see what was going on.

"What's going on?" Neko asked. Irina giggled.

"Okay," she said. "I should probably stop them." At this point, Jay had tackled Tougo and pinned him to the ground. Irina went to pick up his glasses. Neko and I followed behind her.

"What was Irina doing in your room?" Jay asked ferociously. Irina was in his room? The way she was dressed, it wouldn't be unusual to wonder exactly what was going on in there…

"I already told you, I don't know!" Tougo yelled. "I'm not sure how she got in there, and I don't know why she was there! Please get off of me!"

"For some reason, I don't believe you," said Jay.

"Jay," said Irina. "You can calm down. I was only there to leave a message for Tougo-kun, but… I kinda wound up falling asleep, hehe."

She should have realized that would have only made Jay angrier.

"Jaaaaaaay," said Irina. "Please don't hurt him too bad. I still need to tell him something~"

Jay tried to calm down, but anger still showed in her face. She was still sitting on top of him. Irina knelt down and tried to get as close to eye-level as possible. She mussed up his hair as he was being pinned.

"Tougo-kun," she said. Her tone became serious and threatening. "Please try to stay out of the way." She placed his glassed back on his face and stood up to leave. Neko watched her as she left.

"You pervert," Jay said to Tougo as Irina left. "Where exactly are you looking?"

"I don't know," he said. "My glasses are crooked. Now, can you please get off of me?"

Jay stood up (while on top of Tougo) and walked back to her room. After he was sure she was gone, Tougo stood up and dusted himself off as well.

"That was terrifying," I heard him mumble. "I actually thought I was going to die."

"So did I," I said. This remark warranted a glare from him.

"Thanks for the help," he said ironically. He went to his door (which was still open), looked to his right and his left, then closed it. I heard a loud click indicating that he had locked it.

"We probably should have tried to help," said Neko.

"Yeah, probably," I said. "He'll be fine, though. It's not like she killed him or anything."

"Hm…" Neko began to think about something. "If Iririn were trying to look more seductive, she probably should have ditched the glasses."

"True," I said. "She's been wearing them more recently, hasn't she?"

"Hai!" Neko said. "She told me she lost her contacts back in that building, and she doesn't want to go back since they're probably buried under dirt, anyway."

Interesting.

"But meganekko Iririn still has her charms~" Neko cooed. I guess so. There is something oddly charming about Glas—I mean, glasses.

"Yo," said Bunpei after opening his door. "Did something happen? I heard yelling, but I kinda thought I was just having a weird nightmare."

Neko's eyes met mine. "Should we tell him?" She whispered. Hm… I guess it wouldn't do too much harm.

"Why not?" I replied. She decided to take the initiative on this one.

"Iririn was trying to tell Megane-kun to 'stay out of the way,' whatever that means," she said. Bunpei looked like he was trying to analyze the meaning behind those words.

"Then…" Bunpei began. "Maybe she… Is it possible that Irina's the one behind this?"

Irina as the mastermind…? I hadn't actually considered that. Tougo was the most suspicious to me… No, wait! Hanneko said I couldn't discuss this with anyone, even if they're the ones to bring it up.

"Uh…" I said. "That's probably not the case. Glasses thinks it's probably some big organization, so… that might be it."

"Huh," said Bunpei. "Well, that probably makes the most sense."

"Yeah," said Neko. "There's no way a high school girl would be able to pull all that off on her own."

"Junko Enoshima did," I replied. Wait. Who's Junko Enoshima?

_She's the person to orchestrate the first School Life of Mutual Killing game._

"Uh, Rin-tan," said Neko. "Junko Enoshima ga… dare desu ka?"

"Oh, she's the…" I began, but then I realized how ridiculous I would sound. I can't just explain away the inspiration for this trap! I'm not even sure how I myself know.

"… She was an old fashion model," I said. "I just thought she was super cute, and Irina reminded me of her, for some reason."

"Oh, yeah!" Neko said. "I've heard about her. Wasn't she a Hope's Peak student a long time ago?"

"Probably in the same class as the guy Jay likes," said Bunpei. Yeah, probably.

"Yeah, hehe," I said. That was kinda close. Actually… I never really got a good look at those files from a while ago. I'm not even sure how long I've had them. But! They probably have information on that Junko Enoshima chick. Maybe I'll take today to look at them.

"Yo, Furuda-kun," I began. "Hang out with Wakabayashi-kun today. I'm feeling kinda sick, so I'll just stay in my room."

"Oh," said Bunpei. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

"It's not that serious, man," I said. "I just need to lie down. Later."

"Okay," he said. "Later, Rin-chama."

I walked back to my room, looking over my shoulder to see if Bunpei and Neko were looking at me. They both went about their business, I guess. Once I closed my door, I tried to recall where the files were.

_They're in the desk._ I walked over to my desk and pulled one of the drawers open. Surely enough, I managed to find stacks of files in the first drawer. Did I really take this many from the office? I have them going back to Class 68.

_Most of these are fake._ But… How am I supposed to know which are real and which are fake? I analyzed the folders for each specific class. I'm no appraiser, but there's got to be some sort of hint indicating which are real and which are fake…

_Numbers 68 and 69 are put on as stickers. All the others are printed on._

So… Are these the fakes? I pulled back the stickers on those two to reveal the numbers 77 and 78. Perhaps the files start here. Now, to figure out where they end…

_I was part of the most recent class. The class that got into New Hope's Peak before Dayzayspwa could finish their plans. That was Class 80, starting several years after Class 78._

So… I guess the 79 and 80 that I have here are legitimate. All of our pictures (and those of some other students) are here in the Class 80 folder. I read the files of the students I'd never seen before. Most of them had pictures blocked out by pink X's (the only one of the others that didn't have a pink X was for an unidentified student. The file showed everything on them except for their name and picture, which depicted a gray human silhouette). The only real identifier for this person was "Despair." I made sure to take note of that. Besides that, I couldn't find any useful information in the folders of the other students.

Class 79's folder yielded similar results. Most of their profiles had pink X's, except for a few. Among those without pink X's was a boy called Louis Shimizu, the Super High School Level Mystery Author. Quite frankly, I could never really get into his novels, but maybe I'm missing something if they thought he was good enough to get into New Hope's Peak. Speaking of which, his status was marked as "missing." According to this, he disappeared during the school year without a trace. He might have something to do with how this story is unfolding… Besides Louis (who had the only differing status), several students had statuses marked as "despair." It doesn't explain clearly whether or not they're alive or dead, but I'm going to assume they're alive because of the lack of a pink X. Despair might just mean that they're working with the mastermind… They might even be in hospitals (anyone thought to be suffering in despair would be rehabilitated if they could be easily found)…

I heard a knock at my door as I was reading. Startled, I went to see who had disrupted me. Irina was standing outside with a bowl of what looked like chicken soup covered with a clear wrapper and placed neatly on a tray, and what I perceived as a caring smile.

"Hi, Rin-kun," said Irina. She invited herself into my room.

"Uh… Hi," I said hesitantly.

"I heard you were sick, so I asked Bunpei-kun to help me make some soup for you," she explained. Isn't that more of an American thing…?

"Thanks," I said as I took the bowl. "Did Jay give you the idea?"

"Kinda… Yeah, huhu," she said. "So, are you feeling better?" She walked further into my room and sat at my bed, then she placed the tray at my desk on top of the files. She must not have thought much of them…

"… Uh, yeah, actually," I said. I sat down at my bed, since I didn't really have anywhere else I could sit.

"Well, that's good," said Irina. "I thought you might have, but it didn't look like you left your room after this morning, so we weren't sure if you ate anything."

"Thanks," I said. That's pretty nice of them. But she said "this morning" as if it's no longer morning…

"Irina," I began. "Isn't it still morning?"

"Hu?" Irina said. "Well, it's almost one, so it's not really morning anymore…"

Was I really in here all day? Surely enough, when I checked my ID, it revealed the time to be 12:49. I was surprised to see that I had spent the entire morning looking at those files, but I still feel like I haven't learned enough to try to make any more guesses. Maybe the answers are in the earlier files of Classes 77 and 78.

"Oh, wow," I said. "I hadn't realized I was here all day. Well, there's no need—"

Irina placed her forehead to mine, which caught me off guard. I could feel the coolness of her metal eyeglass frames quickly turn to warmth on my forehead. "Try to get more rest," she said. "I wouldn't want anything bad happening to you."

"Uh… Alright," I said. I'm not sure how I should respond to this. A few seconds later, she pulled her forehead away from mine and picked up the tray she brought in.

"I'm gonna leave now," she said. "Jay's probably outside waiting for me. Feel better~"

She sashayed towards the door and pushed it open using her hips. When I spoke to her, it didn't seem like I was speaking to someone losing her senses… I'm not sure I can remember what I was even supposed to be doing… Right, those files…

I went to my desk and sifted through the folders for Classes 77 and 78. _Are you sure these are the files?_ Yeah, I guess. They had 77 and 78 cleanly printed in the corner, like all the others…

Upon realizing what had just happened, I rushed to my door and quickly opened it (Irina conveniently neglected to lock it, but I'm not surprised by the reason why). With my luck, I managed to knock someone else over for the first time in a while.

"Ouch," said Tougo from the other end of the door. "You should probably note that the door opens _outward_ before you decide to try to slam it into someone."

"Hope I didn't hurt your nose," I said as I walked around to the other end. Bags of chips, candies, and unopened soda cans were scattered everywhere.

"Are you planning some sort of party or something?" I asked sarcastically. "'Cause I find it upsetting that you didn't think to invite me."

"They're not for that," he said as I helped him up. "I've been in the library since last night." Some about that seems off…

"Uh… Isn't there a rule against sleeping in anywhere that isn't a dorm?" I asked. He sighed.

"I'm surprised you haven't deflated by now," I said. He didn't respond for a while…

"Well, if you're done with your sarcastic commentary," he began. "I didn't sleep in the library. This kind of stuff keeps me awake," he motioned to the stuff on the ground, "so I brought it there to keep from sleeping."

… Oh. "Pulling all-nighters induced by junk food isn't good for your health," I replied.

"Neither is skipping meals," he responded quickly. Touché. "In any case," he continued, looking straight at me. "I'm close to figuring out who the mastermind is."

Tougo's close to… Shit! I felt alarm in my expression. I can't let him figure that out, or Hanneko's ultimatum is void. I need to somehow change the subject.

"Well then, Glasses," I said. "Since you're so close to figuring out, you should probably take a break. If you're super tired, then you should go sleep in your room or something, heh…"

"No," he said. "I only need a few more hours to reach a solid conclusion, and I don't want anyone tampering with the notes I have."

It's not working… As he picked up his snacks and prepared to leave, I tried to come up with a reason to keep him from making progress…

"Glasses," I said seriously. "You should rest. Your mind might be too tired to even reach a proper conclusion, so you could accuse the wrong person and cause the one behind this to become suspicious and try to get rid of you."

He turned around, shocked. I think I might have come across as threatening… He finally decided to respond. "Either way," he began. "Our lives are in danger here. I'd rather have a chance at getting out than sit complacently and wait to die."

He turned to go back to the library again. I need to think of something…

"I'm worried about you," I said. He stopped. It might have worked, but I need to come across as concerned if I want to convince him…

"I think you should probably relax. The situation's stressful enough, and if you combine that with what you're doing to your health, the next trial might be yours…" I walked toward him.

"But," he said as he turned around. Our eyes met. They were faint, but I could see the dark circles forming underneath his eyes. We stayed frozen like that for a while. I tried to look pleading, but having to do this is starting to annoy me.

"It's too early for that kind of thing," yelled Bunpei from around the corner, startling the both of us and causing us to look at him. He walked back to wherever he was… Tougo mumbled something, but I couldn't hear him.

"What was that?" I asked. He sighed in annoyance.

"Fine," he said with more firmness. "I'm going to bed, since you won't stop annoying me about it. Don't do anything stupid."

He handed me the junk food he had, then went to his room. I watched to make sure he closed and locked it before I sighed in relief.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," said Hanneko. I felt my adrenaline race as I jumped.

"Did-did you see all of that?" I asked. I hadn't even realized he was there!

"Nyeah," said Hanneko. "Looks like our viewers have a new OTP to support~"

"Viewers?" I asked. "You've been talking like we're in some sort of TV show or something. What's up with that?"

"I'll tell you soon," he said. "Right now, I'm gonna go take a nap." He ran away as quickly as his stupid little paws could go. He's definitely not tired. But that's an interesting coincidence. Tougo and Hanneko getting ready to sleep at the same time… Never mind.

"In any case," I said. "I gotta go steal those notes." I went to the library in this building, but all I saw was Bunpei and Tobiki.

"Yo, Rin-chama," Bunpei greeted me. "Feelin' better?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," I said quickly. "I'm just walking around, then I'm gonna go back to my room. Later."

"Oh. Sure, okay," said Tobiki. I placed the snacks on the closest table, then quickly walked out. They let me leave without protest. I probably should have been more wary of that, but I didn't think much of it. I rushed to the Research Building and arrived shortly at the library. Upon entering further, I found Tougo's notes. I picked them up without giving them too good a look. I just needed to make sure none of the others saw me.

Once I arrived back in the main building, I checked my ID to see where everyone was. Bunpei and Tobiki were still in the library. Jay was in the kitchen, and Neko was in the Arts Building. Tougo and Irina were in their rooms. Phew. No chance of anyone seeing me.

I went to my room and hid Tougo's notes away. For some reason, something was nagging at the back of my mind. I couldn't help but feel like there was something I was forgetting to do… Oh, well. I spent the rest of the day finishing the soup Irina gave me and thinking. Before I knew it, the nighttime announcements were sounded, and I decided to go to sleep.

* * *

><p>I woke in a cold sweat the next morning. I had another one of those strangely familiar dreams, but I was forgetting it as soon as I was becoming more awake. In checking the ElectroID, I noticed that it was still too early for Hanneko's announcements to go off. Oh, well. I guess I'll get ready, then get a head start on breakfast.<p>

After sufficiently preparing for the day, I picked up the ID from my bed and went to open my door. I was greeted with an intense pain in the hand that grabbed for the doorknob. Surprised and in pain, I doubled over and tried not to scream. What _was_ that?

I reached for my ElectroID using my other hand so that I could confirm that I wasn't the only one with problems getting out of my room. Everyone's name remained within the area denoting their rooms. As I was preparing to send a warning message, I heard a _nya nya!_ come from the device.

"Be careful," I read aloud. Ugh.

Soon after receiving this message, I heard what sounded like glass shattering. Like the curious idiot I was, I went to open the door with my other hand and burned that one. Still not out of the room.

"Excuse me, may I have your attention? It is nyao 7:00, meaning it's morning time! Let's give it our all again today, nya~"

AAAGH! I debated on going to the bathroom to run some cool water over my hands (I heard that that was actually the wrong thing to do), but finally settled for wetting a towel and holding it. At the point when I decided that my hands weren't blistering, I sent a message to everybody. Bunpei and Tobiki responded with similar stories. Tougo sent a message asking "What are you talking about?" The hell is that supposed to mean? I soon got the bright idea of using the towel to open my door. It worked!

After a brief period of self-congratulation, I sent a message to everyone saying to unlock their doors somehow. First, I went to Bunpei's room to let him out (since it was the closest). I noticed blisters forming on both of his hands when I saw him.

"So, you burned both hands, too?" I asked. He nodded.

"I tried opening my doors with both hands once," he began. "Needless to say, once was enough, heh." Why would he open his door with both his hands?

"Anyway," I said, not realizing I'd asked the question aloud. "We need to go get Wakabayashi-kun." The two of us went to Tobiki's room around the corner. I opened the door and looked to see Tobiki on his bed with a towel on both his hands. Bunpei stayed behind the door.

"Let me guess," I started. "You used both your hands to try to open the door?"

"No," he said. "I tried with one hand, then went to treat it. As I turned away, I tripped and used my other hand to try to break my fall, so… You could probably guess what it landed on." _What an interesting coincidence. You three probably wouldn't have been the brightest kids in class._

"… We should probably go to the hospital," Tobiki said. Didn't need to convince anyone for that one. I walked behind those two and looked around the hallway. Tougo and the girls still aren't out of their rooms… Eh. They're probably all still asleep. They'll be lucky enough to have warnings about the doorknobs.

The three of us arrived to find some conveniently placed gloves on the nearest table. Tobiki pointed the label out first.

"Advanced healing gloves," he read. "Can be used to treat burns, sores, and other abrasions on the hands. Must be worn 24 hours for full effect." _Coincidentially convenient._

"Hand us two each," I said. We sat and donned the gloves, which were surprisingly fast-acting. After a few minutes, a more pressing matter finally occurred to me. I still haven't heard anything from the girls and Tougo. In checking my ElectroID, I noticed that Tougo's name was still in his room, but all of the girls' names were missing…

"Fuck!" I yelled aloud. I ran quickly out of the hospital and… I don't know where. Oh, whatever!

"Nakauchi-san," Tobiki called to me. "Where are you going?"

"The girls!" I yelled. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to try to form a full phrase. I ran to try to check and see where everyone was, but so far I've come up with nothing. After running around for a while, I ran into Tougo. He had some folders in his hands.

"TOUGO!" I yelled, startling him and causing him to drop his folders. "The girls! Name! Missing! GAAAAH!"

"Please try to calm down," he said. "And what are you talking about?"

A message on my ElectroID interrupted me. "In Fine Arts building," it read. No name was given for who sent it. I grabbed Tougo's hand and pulled him with me to the Fine Arts Building. It wasn't until we'd arrived at the kitchens that we found Tobiki and Bunpei standing solemnly by an open door. I let go of Tougo's hand as we walked to see what was inside. A few familiar words snapped me out of my trance after seeing the burned remains before me.

"Pin pon pan poooon! A body has been discovered! After a brief period of investigation, we will begin our fifth class trial! Be sure to check your ElectroIDs after this announcement."


	27. Chapter Five: Play

**So... Yeah. I kinda forgot about this yesterday (I almost thought it was Monday the whole day, hehe), but here it is~**

**Some things may need to be added and edited in the coming week, so... Yeah. Look out for that before the trial. Enjoy~**

* * *

><p>… No one spoke for several minutes. We all just stood and stared at the black and gray corpse in the room. The first utterance of sound came from Bunpei, who kneeled down and raised his arms in frustration.<p>

"AAAAAAAAAGH!" He yelled. "I. DON'T. FUCKING. BELIEVE THIS! I THOUGHT WE WERE _DONE WITH THIS BULLSHIT!_"

If the four of us collectively only ever agreed on one thing, that would be it. The body we saw… was burned beyond recognition, but there's only three people it could be…

"… We need to start investigating," I said.

"… Right," said Tobiki reluctantly. Bunpei stood up from his earlier position and dusted off his legs.

"There's powder everywhere," he said. He's right; there's white powder all over the room.

"It looks like it might be flour," said Tobiki. Probably. I looked around, and all of the bags seemed to be open and nearly empty. Exactly why would they be? Something so weird has to have something to do with this.

"Nakauchi," said Tougo. "Investigate the body. Hanneko's files are becoming less helpful, and probably won't include who this is. See if you could figure out."

"Don't tell me what to do," I said as I went to inspect the body. Besides the fact that it's covered in powder, I couldn't tell about anything beyond the burns.

"Wait," said Bunpei. "We're still missing people. I can't find any of the other girls' names on my ElectroID."

"Not only that," began Tobiki. "But there's no Monokuma File either. There's only a message saying 'at least one other body is hidden.'"

"Nyallow me to explain," said Hanneko. "Seeing as it looks like we're at the final stage of this game, some changes are going to be made. There won't be any more Monokuma Files. Instead…"

Suddenly, some whimsically annoying music began playing. From the confused looks on everyone's face, they also were curious about the source of the music. We all turned to one of the counters when we heard a voice say "I'm over here~"

After we all turned our attention to the counter, a black and white stuffed bear hopped up from behind it and pointed its thumbs toward itself, as if he were the answer to a "this guy!" riddle.

"Nice to meet ya," said the toy, who was vaguely reminiscent of Hanneko. Even then, something about the toy was familiar….

_That nightmare._ But that happened so long ago. How would I still be able to remember it? I was beginning to remember everything I could associate with it. The masks. The buildings. That girl… Junko Enoshima… The one that looks so familiar, like an old friend…

"AAAH! A HANNEKO BEAR!" Bunpei yelled. Right, there's still the matter at hand. The bear (somehow) managed to look offended, despite the fact that its expression barely changed.

"I am _not_ a 'Hanneko bear'," he said. "I'm Monokuma! I'm the second biggest symbol of absolute despair to ever exist, and I'm the inspiration for that cheap knockoff!" With that, he pointed at Hanneko, who proceeded to join him on the counter.

"I am _not_ a cheap knockoff!" Hanneko mewed angrily. Monokuma raised his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"I guess it was a bit far calling you that," he said. "But come _on_! You can't just claim that your design was completely original! And if you're going to use that design, you can't just be completely mean and evil all the time."

"What do you mean?" Hanneko asked. He's now wearing glasses and writing on a notepad. He seems to be fervently taking notes from Monokuma.

"Well," Monokuma began. "See this white side?" He pointed to his white half and continued. "If I were completely symmetrical with the design from this one, then I'd be a cute, childish teddy bear! From surface value, I'd be 'good.' But this black, mean-looking bear on my left is meant to be a representation of evil and malice. It exists as a means of balancing out this white side."

Hanneko continued notating fervently. "I've never thought about that," he said. "I should probably try to seem friendlier to these hapless bastards."

"Literally no amount of kindness from you would keep us from hating you," said Tobiki pointedly. Hanneko ignored him.

"What else should I do?" Hanneko asked.

"Well, besides character aspects, you should consider adding your own whimsical theme music!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"Alright," said Tougo. "That's enough of that. What exactly are you doing here, 'Monokuma'?"

"Upupu," he said. "I see you're the impatient kind. You kinda remind me of someone else who used to attend Hope's Peak. Actually…" The monochrome bear surveyed the room. "… I can kinda see a lot of the Hope's Peak alumni in you losers. You," he pointed to Tobiki.

"… What?" Tobiki asked impatiently.

"You used to have a big, buff guy to look up to, but he totally betrayed your trust somehow, didn't he?" Monokuma asked. He kinda hit the nail on the head with that one, from the hurt look on Tobiki's face.

"Ah, I got one!" Monokuma cheered. "Tell me, anklebiter! Did he have any kind of interest in building things?"

"Anyway," I began. "You still never explained why you were here."

"Arere? I guess I didn't," said Monokuma. "Really, I'm just here to hang out~"

So, basically, he's going to waste our time.

"I'm not here as a waste of time, kid!" Monokuma exclaimed. Okay, I'm really going to need to work on that. He continued. "Since you guys won't be having any more Monokuma Files, I've decided to make my debut in this story! Of course, what's better than having the real deal?"

Nothing could be better than this. Literally, if absolutely nothing were happening right now, I'd be so much happier.

"Well," began Bunpei. "If he's here in place of the files, then maybe that means we can get much more information."

"Right, about that…" Hanneko started.

"I can't help you guys at all~" finished Monokuma. Excellent.

"Well, if you're not going to help, then stay out of our way," Tougo commanded. Monokuma prepared a rebuttal, but stopped when he realized we weren't interested. I continued looking at… whoever was on the ground, making sure there wasn't something I was glossing over. I couldn't find anything that'd indicate who it was, unfortunately. It almost seemed sadder than all of the other deaths…

Wait. There's nothing here… Then… I know who this definitely isn't.

"Wait a second," said Bunpei. "There's still only one person here. The other two girls—whoever they are—are still missing from the ElectroIDs."

"Nya, if you'd let me finish," said Hanneko, "you'd have known that this case comes with a twist! Well, it's already had several, but anyway! There's one body, but three girls missing. That doesn't add up, right? Right! At least one body has been hidden away from you bastards, and you won't know who it is at all!"

"That's ridiculous!" Bunpei yelled. "How are we supposed to be able to solve the case without all those variables filled in?!"

"I think you may be missing a more important point," said Tobiki. "If one of the girls is missing…"

"There's a very good chance she's the one behind this," said Tougo.

"Wait," I said. "Hanneko's wording was incredibly vague. He could be tricking us in order to frame one of the girls." I'm sincerely hoping they're buying this. Of course, I know exactly which girl is still alive, but I don't want to risk having Hanneko's ultimatum become void.

But… It's highly probable that there's more than one person behind this… Tougo and Irina have both been very close from the beginning, and both were very suspicious this entire time… They could be doing this to throw us off completely. Anyway, we need to focus. Even if one body is missing, that shouldn't interfere too much in figuring out who the culprit is…

"Guys," I said. "Our clock is ticking. We need to focus first on solving this case, then we can try to stop who's behind this. Until then, we're powerless."

The others nodded as I spoke. I'm not sure I trust that they're actually heeding my words.

"Rin-chama's kinda right," said Bunpei. "We won't make any progress until we find who's behind this!"

"Upupu," said Monokuma as he turned to face me. "You… You remind me of a couple of people I've met before. Nothing at all worth noting, but still managing to keep everything together. Characters like yours either end up dying first or becoming protagonists in these kinds of stories. I guess we see how that turned out~"

I decided not to respond to that comment.

"I'll be outside," said Bunpei. "Good luck solving this, guys~"

"Oh, I'll go with you," said Tobiki. "We should go try to see if we can find who else passed."

As promised, those two left. I found myself in the room with Tougo, Hanneko and Monokuma. This is starting to look like that bad joke about having two bullets.

"Anyway, Nakauchi," said Tougo. "Did you find anything that stood out about the body?"

I did, but I'm certainly not letting him know that. "Nah," I lied. "It's completely impossible. There's really not much here…"

"Upupupu," said Monokuma. When we turned to look at him, he just leaned on the ridiculously large fan...

"How long has that fan been there?" Tougo asked, echoing my thoughts. We both went to look at it, as if that'd give some sort of clue.

"It's been here at least before this girl died," I said. "You noticed all the flour, right?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Well," I said. "It was here, and it was on. The flour has been scattered everywhere… Except for around here. In fact, despite the fact that it's formed a sort of layer almost everywhere in here, the area closest to where the fan is is completely clean. The flour's even sloping upward away from it…"

Tougo looked around the fan, and his eyes widened. "You're right," he said. _No need to sound so surprised._

"Speaking of flour," he said. "There's so much around here. It looks like it's coating most of the room."

"That's a strong fucking fan," I said. "But why do you think there's so much flour?"

"I was about to ask you that," he said. "But there was a lot of flour in here from the beginning… I can't figure out the reason why, though."

"Neither can I," I said. "It was a kitchen, but there was still a bit much…"

"… We'll have to figure that out later," Tougo said. He turned to look back at the rest of the room. I made my way out of the room, making sure I looked again at everything. Tougo grabbed my shoulder in an attempt to stop me from leaving.

"Wait," he said. "Shouldn't we check for weapons?"

"Nah," I said. "There wasn't anything here that could have been used as a weapon, and it's impossible for Irina to have any kind of weapon, since Jay and Neko would be checking up on her."

"… I guess you're right," he said. I stood for a while and looked out of the room. There are two sets of footprints on the ground, probably from Tobiki and Bunpei…

"You can let go of my shoulder now, Glasses," I said, still facing forward. He let go of me quickly.

"Yeah, sorry," he said. The two of us walked out of the room without any real idea where we were going. But… If we want to make any progress, we're gonna need an advantage.

"Go to the office," I whispered to Tougo. He stopped to listen to what I was saying.

"I think the murder was probably caught on video behind those doors. If you can go look at it, then we'll be able to figure out the culprit and the location of the missing girls more quickly," I whispered. He nodded in response, then went ahead to go to the office.

Ha! I didn't tell him at all how to get to the surveillance. If he's able to easily figure out how to get in there, then he's probably got something to do with this entire incident. I smiled stupidly and walked aimlessly, feeling like I had won.

"Think you've won, huh?" I heard that bear say. "The stupid grin on your face made it seem like you've succeeded at something for once in your life."

_So mean!_

"That's none of your business," I said to Monokuma. "In fact, if you're not going to be of any help, then please leave me alone."

"Wow, that's so mean," he said. "But me being here is actually a huge help for you~"

I ignored his comment and walked forward. According to the ElectroID, Tobiki and Bunpei are in the main building by the kitchen. I went to talk to them and see if they'd made any progress.

"Yo," said Bunpei when he saw me. "There's something over here that you should see."

I followed him and Tobiki to the kitchen. There were piles of broken glass, metal wires, and what I assumed to be ashes lining the floor. A broom and dustpan stood in the corner.

… I don't get it.

"Doesn't this seem odd?" Bunpei asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm not sure how, but it's definitely unusual."

"All of this stuff looks like it should be thrown away," said Tobiki. "Yet… It's all here."

"Yeah… You're right," I confirmed. I might have an idea of what's going on with this, but it still doesn't make enough sense.

"Hey, looks like everyone's here," said Hanneko from wherever the hell he had appeared. At this point, it wasn't even startling.

"Actually," began Tobiki. "Hanai-kun's still missing." So he is…

"Oh, looks like he's on his way here," said Bunpei, looking at his device. Surely enough, Tougo joined us shortly afterward.

"I wasn't able to find any new information," he said. I'm guessing he worded it like that so as not to tip off the others. But… That seems kinda pointless, since everyone knows about the office now, huh…

"So," said Hanneko. "My predecessor insists that I should be a bit nicer to you guys, so I'm giving you some time to eat breakfast before the trial! After all, looks like you guys didn't get the chance earlier."

"Being nicer to you isn't going to make us hate you less," said Tobiki.

"I'm not here to be your friend, kid," said the toy. "Now, go ahead and get something to eat."

Bunpei, Tobiki, and I went to the cabinets to put something together to eat. Tougo just said that he wasn't hungry and proceeded to sweep up the wires and such on the floor.

The three of us left Tougo in there once we found something quick to consume. For the most part, breakfast was uneventful. Bunpei sat and chewed his cereal pensively while Tobiki stared at his cup of coffee. Soon, we were joined by Monokuma.

"Kya-ho~" Monokuma greeted us. "I'm here to finish that guessing game!"

"Please leave," we said in unison, to all of our surprise. Monokuma just laughed his irritating laugh.

"I would, but it's kinda boring by myself," he said. "I haven't been able to hang out with anyone since I took that trip to Jabberwock Island." We tried to ignore him, but he insisted on staying. If he's the inspiration for Hanneko's model, then throwing him away is definitely out of the question.

"So," he began. "Was there a weird kid who kept trying to lead you guys, but wound up failing horribly?"

I decided to humor him in the hopes that he'd leave sooner. "Yeah, actually," I responded.

"Oooh, got another one!" Monokuma spun around on his hand. "Did he make friends with someone who wound up being the killer in the second trial?"

"It was a girl, but yeah," I said.

"Alright! The chapter two victim was totally a boy who looked like a girl, wasn't it?" Okay, at this point, it's starting to seem like Monokuma was actually watching the entire time…

"I'll take that as a yes!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Okay, now, in chapter three, did an evil loli girl end up dying?"

"Yeah," I responded. This is starting to seem like some sort of weird game. But what does he mean by calling each trial a "chapter"?

"Wait, what kind of loli are we talkin'?" Monokuma asked.

"Uh… I guess both," I said. Dude, it's almost starting to seem like Monokuma actually was—

"NYAAA!" We covered our ears to shield them from the screeching cat sounds Hanneko was making.

"Breakfast is _over!_" Hanneko said. "Make your way to the gymnasium so we can start this trial! HURRY!"

Startled, Tobiki accidentally dropped the half-filled cup of coffee he was holding. As he saw it fall, a realization seemed to strike him. He quickly got up to go to the gym, not looking back at either of us.

"… I guess we should go now," I said to Bunpei, who was still eating his cereal. His expression has become more solemn… But, it's slowly been becoming like that since we've been here, hasn't it? In fact, with each passing trial, we've all been changing. The formerly talkative and jovial Tobiki now hardly ever says anything that isn't serious or said in attempt to lighten the mood. Bunpei's smile has also been fading since he became more serious about the situation. Ko's death was probably the on to snap him into this reality… Even Tougo (who wasn't really much fun to begin with) has become several times more serious. Everyone's changing... _But what about me?_

… These trials seem to be becoming more fun with the more risk they have.

Suddenly, I heard a _smack!_ and was greeted by a folder in my face.

"It's time to go now, stupid," said Tougo. Before I could rebut, he walked away from me. But what was that in his hand? Anyway, what was I just thinking about? Something about it was now starting to make me feel uneasy…

"Just walk," I whispered to myself, making my way to the gym. This entire scenario is starting to seem more surreal.

"Nyalright," said Hanneko. "Everyone here physically and mentally? Good! Step on the symbol, and stand still, nyahahahahaha."

I'm getting seriously tired of that laugh. Actually, now that I think of it, am I still mentally here? I haven't thought much on any of the clues, if what all we found even counts as that. From the looks on everyone's faces as we descended, it was hard for them to piece together what they found as well. Bunpei seemed more confused than ever, Tobiki seems like he's on the verge of some sort of breakthrough, but… Tougo seems more tired. The circles under his eyes are darker than they were when I saw him yesterday…

But besides that… The culprit has to be one of the three girls, right? There should be at least one other person here before the trial starts, but it's only us. That missing student has to be behind this crime… This person was probably also the puppet master behind this school life of mutual killing, if that's the case… If so, I've already figured out prime suspect number one. This entire class session may be over within a couple of hours.


	28. Chapter Five: Stop

**So... Yeah. I may need to add some more edits to this update as well as the previous one (whenever I get the chance), but that won't affect any plot points. Enjoy~**

**Also, please leave a review or message if there's something you think I should know ^.^**

* * *

><p>The courtroom today wasn't decorated in any way that stands out… Well, except for the fact that it actually looks like a courtroom. It was only when we stood behind our podia that one thing stood out—it was snowing in here.<p>

"What's with the snow?" Tobiki asked. Hanneko claimed his seat at the throne.

"Snow?" Hanneko asked. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Anyway, we haven't got all day. If you wait any longer, what meager information you found will escape your tiny brains!"

Well, the snow itself wasn't really bothersome. The temperature was the same, and it could have easily been wiped away.

Seconds after Hanneko said this, that same whimsical music from earlier began playing. We all turned to find the source behind the podium Irina normally took.

"Ah, so you've decided to join in this trial, Monokuma?" Hanneko asked.

"Puhuhu, of course~" he said. "I miss these events so much, I decided to participate today! Plus, these hopeless bastards could use all the help they can get."

"Thanks for the help," Bunpei said sarcastically. Or, I assumed he was being sarcastic.

"Can we stop wasting time?" Tougo asked impatiently. Hanneko giggled.

"Nyaha! Someone's cranky," he teased.

"Whatever," said Tougo. "Let's just finish this final chapter, shall we?"

"Right," I said, even though my emotions would say otherwise. There's almost no clues that form anything resembling a coherent pattern. Hopefully the guys found more clues that I missed, or we'll end up having to guess the killer on this one.

"So, what did we all find out?" Bunpei asked hopefully.

"Nakauchi and I didn't find much beyond what was already learned," said Tougo. I guess we really didn't…

"Uh… Furuda-kun and I didn't get to figure out much either," said Tobiki dejectedly.

"Déjà vu," said Bunpei, to Tougo's shock.

Hm… So, we haven't got much of anything to present… But still… Maybe the killer is only pretending to be dead…

"Okay," I said. "We learned from Hanneko that at least one body has been hidden. If you ask me, it sounds like he's implying one of those three girls is still alive." The other three looked like they were considering what I was saying.

"But," said Tobiki. "Isn't class trial attendance mandatory? If one of them is still alive and not here, she'd be breaking the rules."

"Tobi's right," said Bunpei. "Hanneko would never let anyone just skip out."

"We don't know that," said Tougo. "He let Alice break an established rule just so someone would die. Plus, it was only implied that we must all go to the class trials. No one ever refused, so we can't say that he'd make us."

He has a point… But still. Something's telling me I'm not wrong… Irina's still alive, and she's hidden away, so she must have something to do with this…

"Uh, BTW," began Hanneko. "Class trial attendance is mandatory. Rarely has someone been able to get out of it, and that's not happening right now."

"But!" I exclaimed for no real reason, pointing at Hanneko. "How can we be so sure that all of the students are actually forced to comply with the rules? Of course, a certain someone may not be restrained by the laws like we are."

Hanneko somehow seemed nervous.

"And exactly who would that be?" Monokuma chimed in.

"Irina Fujimori," I said. A couple of confused "Fujimori?"s floated around. Oh, right, that was a secret… Oh, well, doesn't matter at this point.

"What are you trying to say, Nyakauchi?" Hanneko challenged.

"Irina very well may be the culprit in this case," I said. "As well as being—"

"If you're about to say that Irina's the one behind everything, you're completely mistaken," said Tougo defensively.

"What?" I asked. "How is that 'completely mistaken'? Unless you can prove that someone else is?"

"Ahem," said Hanneko irritatedly. "It sounds like someone's breaking a rule. We're here to discuss who the culprit is."

"Who says the two are mutually exclusive?" I asked. "Anyway, Glasses, you need to get over whatever attachment you have to her. Don't think it's not possible for anyone here to have betrayed you."

Tougo seemed taken aback. Maybe I was being a bit harsh when I said that…

"I already realize that someone I care about has betrayed me," said Tougo. "But I don't appreciate the fact that you're trying to lead us astray here."

"Hey," interjected Hanneko. "Y'all remember that life-threatening situation that was happening right now? Yeah, can we get back on track with that?"

"Hanneko's… right," said Bunpei reluctantly. "What's most important here is solving this case."

"It's starting to look like we won't even be able to do that," said Tobiki.

"We will," I said automatically. To be honest, I'm not sure I even believe this, but we can't just give up. If we do, Hanneko will execute us all… Actually… He could be bluffing about executing us all. In fact, it probably wouldn't even really matter if we were. The outside world is…

What am I saying?

"Someone's hopeful, pupupu," said Monokuma. I almost forgot about him.

"NYAAAAA!" Hanneko yelled. "You guys are getting on my nerves! Get back to the god-nyanned trial!"

"Hm," Monokuma hummed. "Whenever I had this problem, I would just put a time limit on the trials. That certainly put them under a lot more pressure!"

"That's a good idea," said Hanneko. "I'll definitely need to remember that for next time! Should I start one up now?"

"Nah, man, we're good," said Bunpei quickly. "Come on guys, we need to get back to the matter at hand!"

"Agreed," said Tougo. "Now, it's not possible that none of us figured anything out. Furuda and Wakabayashi, surely you know something."

"Hm…" Bunpei said. "We found a pile of ashes, wire, and broken glass in the kitchen. Not sure if that has any connection to the case, but it's really too unusual to ignore."

"While we're talking about weird things," I began. "Glasses and I noticed a fan amidst all the flour in the kitchen."

"That's true," Tougo confirmed. "We believe it may have been in use prior to our visiting the scene."

"What makes you think that?" Monokuma asked in a tone that conveyed no seriousness. What did convince us that the fan was on…?

"The flour in the room." I said. "It coated everything except for that fan. In fact, a short distance away from the fan, you could see the end of the flour layer sloping towards it. If it weren't on, flour would be all over it."

"Ah!" Bunpei said. "That's right. There was flour everywhere around the room! But do you guys think it has to do with the case?"

"It has to somehow," I said. I literally have no idea how, but something's telling me that I need to keep it in mind…

"Furuda-kun," said Tobiki. "Didn't you say you found something on our doorknobs?"

"Yeah, I did," said Bunpei. "A couple of our doorknobs had scratches on them on the inside parts. I'm still not sure what it means, though…"

"It could just be because this used to be a school," said Tougo.

"Definitely not!" Hanneko said. "If anything, I take pride in how much care I put into the upkeep of this school! Each night at midnight, I have a team of highly-trained, specialized Hannekos clean the entire school spotless!"

Does he really need a highly specialized team just to clean the school? Even so… That could help us figure some stuff out.

"Wait," I said. "That could help us figure more out!"

"How can it… actually, you've got a point," said Tobiki. "That means that the time of death is some time between midnight and 8:00, which is around the time we found her…"

"But I checked last night," Bunpei said. "I'm pretty sure most of us—if not all—were in our rooms by midnight."

If that's the case… then it must have been later that the girls went missing…

"Wait," I said. "Maybe the incident from this morning has to do with it. If we can figure out what was going on then, that could help us reach a conclusion about the time of death."

"But when was that?" Tougo asked.

"Dude, I sent you a message," I said. "It started before the morning announcements were read. The doorknobs suddenly started to burn our hands."

"Oh, right." Tougo said. "Your warning managed to keep me from using them directly. Thanks."

He actually sounded sincere about that… "Uh… No problem," I replied. "But we still need to know what that was all about." I turned to Hanneko, but I was cut off before I could utter a word.

"Don't blame me for that," he said. "Some other clever bastard figured out a way to burn your hands. It was a pretty impressive trick, actually."

Trick? So it wasn't Hanneko's fault? That doesn't make sense. Those gloves were way too convenient for it not to have to do with him.

"You're lying," said Bunpei.

"Wait," said Tobiki. "He might be telling the truth. I think I know exactly how we managed to be caught up in that situation."

Tobiki picked up samples of the glass and wire from the kitchen that had been placed in a bag. He must have picked it up when I wasn't paying attention.

"Furuda-kun," he said. "Do you still have my cup from this morning?"

"Ah… Yeah," said Bunpei as he procured the white glass from one of his pockets (they must be pretty baggy).

"Alright," said Tobiki. "Everyone, look at that cup. It came from the kitchen cabinets, which seemed to have some missing. Does it look similar to the shards in this bag, as well as the ones on the ground we saw?"

They're exactly the same…

"If you're thinking that they're the same, then you're exactly right," Tobiki said. "The doorknobs to our rooms are metal, same as the wire in the bag. The killer probably put one part of the wire around our doorknobs, and the other part inside the cup, along with a burning object. Having those things together would cause the wire to conduct heat that traveled from it to the doorknob, effectively burning our hands when we'd try to open it." He's right!

"Good job, Tobi!" I said, excited. For the first time in what may have been a long while, he seemed more cheerful and confident.

"You're right," said Tougo. "A clever answer for a clever trick."

"But…" said Bunpei. "There are still two things that need to be explained. What was that shattering glass sound we heard? Also, if they used the glasses from the kitchen, why are the shards in that bag gray? The full cups are white."

"I may be able to help with that," said Tougo. "If there was something burning inside that cup then the inside should be covered in soot, similar to how the glass inside a candle would turn black over time. If you clean them enough, they should still be white, like how the opposite sides would be."

"Speaking of candles," said Bunpei. "When the fire's too hot, then the glasses tend to crack… It makes so much sense now! That's probably why we heard those shattering glass sounds!"

Bunpei seems to be taking this a lot more seriously… I remember when he'd just leave investigation to the rest of us, but now he's even going so far as inspecting doorknobs for clues. I'm proud of him.

"Good work," I said to them. We may be closer to figuring out this case thanks to that! But… is there really still hope for us?

"We still need to figure out how that connects to the murder case," I said. "Plus, we still don't know how exactly the mess disappeared from around our doors."

"That's true," said Tougo. "We were all trapped, so that means…"

"The only culprit could be one of the three girls," said Bunpei. That's right. But… That's wrong. Wait… It can't be wrong. It's completely impossible for one of us to be the culprit…

"… We should discuss the crime scene more before we jump to any conclusions," I said trying to stop myself from confusing my brain.

"Coming from someone who was so adamant about a certain culprit earlier," said Tougo.

"Shut up," I snapped back.

"Rin-chama's right" said Bunpei. "But… Now that I think about it, we kinda already know all that we need to know about the crime scene."

"There's got to be more to it than the fact that it's covered in flour," I said. "We don't yet know why or how, but we should know that before we continue."

"I think we probably already know how everything got covered," said Tobiki. "Nakauchi-san and Hanai-kun already said that there was a fan on while she was killed. The culprit may have used that to disguise the real cause of death, maybe to hide blood stains or something like that."

"I agree that the fan is definitely a factor," I said. "But when I inspected her, I couldn't find any kind of cuts or anything. It just looked like she was burned…"

"There shouldn't have been any wounds on the body," said Monokuma. We all turned to look at him. The guys all glared.

"Why should we trust you?" Bunpei asked. Monokuma did his weird "upupu" laugh.

"You guys trusted me for all the other cases," said Monokuma. "And now that I'm here to confirm everything, you guys don't want to believe me. I can never win with you people."

Well, we don't really have a choice but to trust him now, do we?

"Okay, assuming there are no wounds on her," I said. "The fan did serve to spread the flour to an extent. It was big, and it appeared powerful, but there's no way it was strong enough to rip open the bags at the beginning. That had to be done by human hands."

"But then," said Bunpei. "Who could have done it?"

"Hm…" said Tobiki. "Is it possible that the victim was the one to spread the flour around?"

"What?" Tougo asked. "That makes no sense. Why would anyone try to throw flour around everywhere?"

"Maybe she got in a fight," Bunpei said. "She probably had to defend herself somehow since there isn't really anything else in there that could be used as a weapon…"

"True," I said. "When we found the kitchen, we were able to note that there were no dangers you'd find in a normal kitchen. The stoves are all electric, and the utensils are all plastic. Everything else in there was either an oven or pastry ingredients."

"So, anything used as a weapon would have had to come from outside it," said Tobiki.

"There were no such weapons when I looked around," said Tougo. "I can't figure out where they could have hidden it, since I think we'd have noticed if it were covered in flour."

"Then…" Bunpei said. "Is it possible that she inhaled some sort of poison?"

That's true… There could be a poison in the form of a powder hidden in there… But…

"We'd have noticed it," I said.

"You guys are so hopeless," said Monokuma. "There was no poison, no stabbing, no beating, _no nothing _before she—and at least one other girl—died. She was _burned to death._"

Dang. Well, I got nothing.

"Wait," I said. "How do we know how many people were even in there?"

"What do you mean?" Tougo asked.

"When we went by there," I began. "The floor outside the room was clean. Nothing that could give away what was happening in there." I waited to see if someone else would catch on.

"But," said Bunpei. "When Tobi and I left, we left flour footprints. There were only two sets, now that I think about it."

"Right," I said. "That could mean that the killer was still in the room, or they found another way to escape."

"But… The only way I can think of is through the vents," began Tobiki. "But they're too small for anyone to fit through."

"You know that's saying something, coming from him" said Hanneko.

"Thanks," said Tobiki sarcastically. "I think we were all beginning to forget how short I am."

"Anyway," I said. "It's completely possible that there's at least one other way out… But it's also possible that the culprit never went in."

"… Okay, I don't see it," said Bunpei. "How could the killer have killed them from outside? The doors don't have any windows on them, so it'd be impossible for them to even know someone was on the other side…"

"That's… kinda true," I said. Now that I think about it… that really makes no sense.

"Plus," said Bunpei. "The killer left fingerprints on the doorknob. If I remember correctly, the door only opens inward, so someone had to have pulled it from outside in order to leave. The culprit more than likely had a broom, so they could have very easily swept away the flour. Nice try, Rin-chama, but I think I've bested you at this one!"

He probably has… I can't justify—wait.

"Furuda-kun," I said. "It's completely possible that the culprit was tricked into committing the crime."

"Oho! A twist!" Hanneko meowed. "Was the killer hiding in the shadows, or is he really here in this very courtroom? Find out next time on—"

"This isn't a goddamned TV show!" Tougo shouted. "We're in the middle of a discussion."

"Yeah," I said. "And we're definitely not ending it here!"

"But Rin-chama," said Bunpei. "How exactly could any of us be tricked into killing someone? I don't see how that could have happened on accident."

"I do," I said. "Remember when we first explored the building? Kotaka told us about a stone called flint that could set off sparks if it were rubbed together. When Luka noticed the sparks coming from me opening the door, we figured out that it was made out of that stone."

"I remember that," said Tobiki. "She warned us all later that day about it."

"That she did," I said. "But we all dismissed it, since we couldn't see how a few small sparks could do more than give someone a minor injury."

"So…" Bunpei began. "Whoever opened the door accidentally threw sparks onto the body?"

"Not exactly," I said. Everything's starting to make more sense… Why that room was filled with flour, and why that part of the door was replaced.

"It's time for a science lesson~" Hanneko mewed.

"Stop with the interruptions!" Tobiki exclaimed.

"Actually," said Tougo. "I think we should listen."

Hanneko hopped down from his throne and pulled out a chalkboard covered in what seemed like unnecessary equations and Greek symbols. "Most organic compounds are made of various mixes of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen," said Hanneko. He's now wearing goofy glasses reminiscent of Irina's. "Many of them being common household objects such as sugar, powders, grain, and even all-purpose baking flour! Due to the fact that these particles have a big surface area compared to their mass, and it's easier to burn something at its surface, if these objects are all in the air rubbing against each other, you could cause a dangerous explosion if these things were to come in contact with a heated surface, friction, or even a teeny tiny spark. The fire would spread quickly and injure—or even kill—someone unfortunate enough to be caught up in it."

"…" We were all silent. He basically gave away the entire murder… Something's seriously up…

"Okay," said Tougo. "So, which of you went to open the door to find them?"

"… I did," said Bunpei. His eyes and nose became watery. "Does this mean I killed them?! Everyone, I'm so so so sorry!"

"Please calm down," I said. "You already know why you didn't do it, Furuda-kun."

He stopped sniffling for a moment. "How?" Bunpei asked.

"Because," I said. "There's something you checked as you were leaving."

"The… fingerprints?" He sniffed as he asked this.

"Yeah," I said.

"But it's kinda useless," said Tobiki. "We have no way at all of knowing whose fingerprints those are."

"You've got that wrong, Wakabayashi-kun," I said. "The fact that there are fingerprints at all indicates who could have done it." I turned to address the culprit, who, in turn, looked at me with a glower.

"Tougo Hanai," I said. "You were the one who opened that door first, weren't you?"


	29. Chapter Five: Eject--SPT3

The courtroom was silent. The tension in the room rested thickly in the air. Well, that could just be my imagination, but I actually highly doubt that.

"Rin-chama," said Bunpei, finally getting ahold of himself. "There's no way he could have done it."

"He's right," said Tougo. "At the time of the crime, I was nowhere near the scene."

"Yeah, Nakauchi-san," said Tobiki. "We were all trapped in our rooms."

"Right," said Bunpei. "I even checked when I got up. Everyone's name was in their room at that time."

Wait. That's definitely not the case…

"Oh," said Hanneko. "About that. The ElectroID tracking system was messed up earlier today, so there's really no way of verifying where anyone was at that point."

Silence again, which was broken by Bunpei.

"AAAAAAAGH!" He yelled. "STOP DOING THIS TO UUUUUSSS!"

"Upupu," said Monokuma.

"But… why would it be messed up?" Tobiki asked.

"To get us off track," I said. "Everyone who was alive between the end of the fourth trial and this one was present. In messing it up, Hanneko could successfully hide who had disappeared, and where we all actually were."

"Along with… who the missing girl is," said Tobiki.

"Remember, we never confirmed how many people actually died," said Monokuma. "Hell, how do we even know that the corpse in the kitchen was an actual dead body?"

"Stop it," I said. "We know that at least one person was killed."

"Still," said Bunpei. "That doesn't necessarily mean that Tougo-kun wasn't in his room. He said that your warning helped him avoid the doorknobs."

"But that was after we talked about what happened," I said. "At that point, it wouldn't be hard for him to have lied about being there."

"There's no way for you to prove that I'm lying," he said. "Until you can, don't you dare accuse me of killing anyone!"

Some way to prove it… He's kinda right. Bunpei's theory about the culprit sweeping away the flour makes more sense…

"You know," began Hanneko. "There's been a pattern with these last few trials. _All the killers from the second trial on have been female._"

"… What are you insinuating?" I asked. Hanneko and Monokuma laughed simultaneously.

"It's entirely possible for someone in this very room to continue that pattern," Hanneko said. Almost simultaneously, every eye in the courtroom turned to me…

"I… I don't want to believe that," said Tobiki. "Nakauchi-san's been helping us solve these cases this entire time. Plus, we don't know what exactly Nakauchi-san is…"

"Still," said Tougo. "How do we know that Nakauchi's not lying about an alibi? It's very easy for someone who knows these kinds of scenarios to manipulate them in their favor. In fact, I wouldn't put it past that hikikomori to do that in order to eliminate the rest of us."

Tobiki and Bunpei turned to him, then back to me to see how I would respond. I can't believe that bastard keeps calling me hikikomori!

"You asshole!" I shouted. "Do you honestly think I'd try to eliminate everyone just to save myself? After all this bullshit we've been through, and everything I've tried to do to keep us alive and not completely helpless, you think I'd just decide to kill one of the people I've become attached to, then make it look like someone else did it?"

"As if I'd do the same thing," he responded. His voice had also escalated to a yell. "I know exactly what's going on in this school, and I'm only trying to get us all out unscathed, but _you_ decided to mess everything up. You should know better than anyone here that I wouldn't try to kill anyone!"

"That doesn't mean you're immune to tricks," I replied.

"Tricks?! Don't fucking insult me!" Tougo responded. "_I'm_ not stupid enough to fall for any kind of tricks! On the other hand, you've demonstrated several times that we're probably not putting our faith in the right person!"

I know he did it… He had to have done it. If he didn't, he'd use more logical reasoning to prove me wrong. He's being cornered now…

"Tougo," I said. At this point, I was almost certain I had started crying. I could still see that his expression had become less hostile, though. "I know how hard you've been working. You've even gone so far as sacrificing your health just to reach a conclusion sooner, but I warned you."

He looked slightly confused through his glaring expression. "What do you mean?" Tougo asked.

"The circles underneath your eyes," I said. "Since I saw you yesterday afternoon, they've become noticeably darker. Did you actually go to sleep when I asked you to, or did you stay up and wait until you thought I'd forget?" If it were possible for the courtroom to become any quieter than it did earlier than today, it'd be in this instance. Even I was too upset to try and disturb the silence.

I decided to take this moment to rest my case. "I understand everything now. Since you were so close to figuring out who was behind this, naturally our mutual enemy would want you gone, and he—or possibly she— decided to use the trap set in the Fine Arts Building to do so. Your lack of sleep, which would mess up anyone's cognitive activities, only made it easier for you to fall for it.

First, the mastermind needed a plan to get you to actually fall for this trap and make you look as guilty as possible. He probably came up with the plan of trapping us in our rooms with the burning cups so that we wouldn't be able to interfere with the murder, thus making us unable to prevent it while allowing you to move freely about the school. Naturally, with you being in the library in the Research Building, you'd have no way of knowing what was going on. The real trick would be getting you to leave.

Knowing you really wanted answers and that you might be too tired to think twice, the puppetmaster—or maybe someone working with them— probably sent you a message via ElectroID promising some kind of hint or maybe even explaining that the mastermind was in the kitchen. They probably managed to lure the girls in there promising similar information, but their lives must have wound up being threatened for them to resort to using flour to try to fight the mastermind off. Unfortunately, they also fell right into the mastermind's trap. After using the fan to try to spread the flour around more, our enemy either made their escape or hid away in the room, probably in one of the various cabinets. At this point, he relied solely on luck and proper timing to get you to go over there.

You must have realized what you'd done once you opened the door, since you tried so hard to disguise how much you knew about the incident. After making your escape, you probably went back to the library so that you could pretend you were there the entire time. Meanwhile, with us, we had gone to the hospital to get treatment for our burns, where we realized all the girls went missing. The fact that we three have burns on our hands is why it's not possible for any of us to have done it if there were fingerprints. Since I got them out, we stayed together the entire time. It was most likely around this time that the mastermind took away at least one other person to further confuse us, though who it was probably had nothing to do with who the culprit is. It was most likely just to mess us up. At that point, all that was left to do was leave more clues about exactly what happened, then wait for us to incriminate you."

The courtroom stayed completely silent as I said this. It was starting to become unsettling.

"The fact that you've probably been eating junk food is most likely why you even left clear fingerprints," I concluded, waiting for him to correct me if I'm wrong. I continued when I realized I wouldn't get a response.

"The person who the mastermind targeted," I said. "It could only have been you… Tougo Hanai."

The only response he gave was a "tch" sound. He later closed his eyes.

"I'm so pathetic," he said as he placed one palm to his forehead.

"No, you're not," I said.

"Yeah," said Bunpei. "Anyone in this situation would do the same thing."

"Right," said Tobiki. "If you're pathetic for wanting to live, then so are we. No one here ever deserved to die, but we're forced to try to hold on to our pathetic lives while sacrificing another one."

"Tougo," I said. "Please just stop doing this to us."

He sighed one last time and lowered his gaze from mine.

"I… didn't do it," he said feebly.

"I know your tell," I said. "If you can't look me in the eyes and say that you're innocent, I'll know you're lying."

He looked back up at me and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it back. "Hmph," he said. "You know me too well."

"Alright!" Hanneko yelled. "If you're ready to vote, please—"

"Wait!" Tobiki said. "That's completely unfair! Hanai-kun was tricked into committing this crime! More than anyone, this is your fault!"

"Too bad. I don't make the rules kid," said the one who clearly does make the rules.

"But still," said Bunpei. "Isn't there some way to get him off the hook? He doesn't deserve to die over something like this!"

"Unless you guys vote for a different person," said Monokuma. "But then you'd be the ones to die while he walks free."

I can't believe we're being put through this. I don't want him to die at all, but if we vote on someone else, we'll all die. I can't sacrifice three lives for the sake of one. But it's still unfair that that one has to be gone.

"Actually," said Hanneko. "I do have one more challenge for you guys right now."

Even though I'm not sure I'll like it, this managed to pique my interest. "What is it?" I asked.

"Nyuhuhu," said Hanneko. "I'll let you all leave this courtroom alive, but if and only if you can figure out exactly who died! But you must figure out exactly who the recently deceased are. If you name too many or too few people, then you lose the challenge. If you name the exact number, but get even one name wrong, you still lose, and I'll have all of you killed, innocent or not!"

"There's no way for us to do that," said Bunpei. "We weren't looking to see who was gone!"

"But if we want to all get out, we have to try," said Tobiki.

"I don't know, guys," I said. "That's incredibly risky, but I'm not sure if it's worth a shot. Maybe we could—"

"Forget it," said Tougo. "Let's please just end this here."

What? Is this idiot really about to let himself be killed without even trying?

"What the hell are you saying?" I asked him. "If we don't even try, then you'll be killed!"

"But if we do and get it wrong—which is most likely to happen—then we'll all die," he countered. "Either way, I'm gone, so I may as well give you all a chance to get out of here. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop wasting time."

He turned to Hanneko. "Let's start the voting," he said.

"Okay then, kitties," said Hanneko. "Time to decide on the culprit! Will you be right, or will you be horribly, despairingly wrong?"

The only sound that could be heard was that of our fingers casting the ballots. After a torturous amount of time, Hanneko finally announced the verdict.

"You all…" he began… "Are… correct! The stupid bastard who fell for such an obvious trap was none other than our resident smartass, Tougo Hanai."

I didn't get to voice how offensive Hanneko's remark was. Bunpei ran to Tougo's podium and bear hugged him from his side, to his shock.

"Tougooooo!" Bunpei wailed. "I'm gonna miss you, man! Say hi to Ko-chan and the rest of them for me…"

Tobiki also went to the two, although not as quickly or as surprisingly as Bunpei. What was surprising was that he joined in on the embrace. "Please forgive us," he said quietly. "Please ask the others to forgive us, as well..."

Part of me wanted to follow their example, but my feet were unable to move. I just sat at my podium and tried to hide myself by crouching. We won't be able to help each other anymore. Neither will Nezumi, or Kotaka, or Luka, or Yasushi, or Jay, or anyone else. None of them will be able to help us find the mastermind. I can't help but feel like I deserve this for relying on these guys… This is what I deserve for trying to make friends.

"DAMN IT ALL!" I yelled, though it was muffled. "You four-eyed sister complex asshole!"

It was only when I felt a hand ruffling my hair that I realized someone had joined me on the floor by my podium. I looked up to see Tougo waiting for me to acknowledge that he was there.

"Rin," he whispered. "Stop acting like a helpless idiot and stand up." He stood up and offered his hand to help me stand up. I decided to at least comply with this. Has he ever actually called me by my name before now?

Bunpei and Tobiki looked on from where Tougo left them. I wondered why they didn't come over here…

"If my hypothesis is correct," he said. "I haven't got anything to worry about. Anyone who needs to will make it out of here unscathed. Just be sure to watch your back."

He turned to Hanneko. "Alright, stupid cat," he said. "Let's get this over with."

"What?! Hell no!" Hanneko yelled. "We don't get any kind of action? No kiss or hug?! Not even a confession!? Just '_watch your back'?! _We've got ratings to keep up with!"

"Absolutely not, and I don't care," he said. "Now just start this before I bite off my tongue myself. It's time to conclude this final chapter."

"Ugh!" Hanneko said. "You're definitely no fun!" After saying this, Hanneko hit his gavel against the button that symbolizes that this round is over. Before I could see Tougo inevitably being dragged away from me, I felt a sharp pain in my head and my eyes became heavy. Recognizing this danger, I tried my best to keep them open long enough to see Bunpei and Tobiki met with the same fate. Tougo's gone, and I fell to the floor after completely succumbing to whatever was trying to keep me down.

* * *

><p><em>Click. Click. Click.<em> Vaguely familiar, echoing footfall of high heels woke me up. I looked up at a ceiling that I did not recognize, then sat up to a door that I did. I tried to avoid coming to this building as much as possible, but I've managed to find myself facing the most guarded exit I've ever encountered in the creepy-ass school building.

"Dancing in despair, the young boy filled with ambitions laughed at reality trying to escape to him," sang a hauntingly beautiful voice. With any other lyrics, the voice would be soothing, but it only served to scare me.

"Lying about hidden desires doesn't help the fact that you're a hypocrite, but that can't be helped~

What were you dreaming of being before? Were you trying to become a hero? Uhuhu,

Unfortunately, there doesn't exist any kind of remedy for stupidity~"

I didn't turn around for the source of the singing voice. I already knew who it was.

"Oh? You're awake now?" Irina asked as she looked down at me. I could feel her hair lightly brushing against my cheeks as she did this. I didn't respond.

"Stand up, stand up~" she said. I decided to listen to her and turned to face her. In one hand, she held a strange device with a large red button. Situated in the opposite arm were two horribly familiar stuffed toys.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked after I stood up. Of course, I wasn't immediately answered.

"Irina," I began. "There's been something I've been meaning to ask you. Those breakdowns you had… They weren't real, were they?"

Irina looked surprised for a moment, but then reverted to her neutral expression. "I was wondering who'd catch on first," she said.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she placed a finger to my lips to shush me. "Let me tell you a story, Rin-kun," she began.

"Once upon a time, there was a young princess," she began. "She was said to have hair the color of raven's feathers, and eyes resembling onyx. The people loved to gaze upon her cream-colored skin and listen to her musical voice. Yes, it seemed that she was loved by all the land.

Of course, 'seem' is the keyword here. The princess knew that no one truly cared for her, but she liked to believe they did. Naturally, the princess was befriended by many people, but all they wanted from her were the perks that come along with being royalty. Once they got what they wanted, they left her.

But… there were a few people who displayed no interest in her status. The first was a prince from a neighboring kingdom. He was handsome, smart, and able to clearly see through the spells and tricks that evil wizards would pull. The princess found herself interested in things about him. What was his daily life like? What are his favorite things? Does he prefer petite girls or girls with curves? Who does he call a friend?

Needless to say, the princess became somewhat infatuated with this prince. Unbeknownst to her, the prince absolutely loathed her. She'd only find this out the day she decided to tell her feelings, during which he also confessed his. He said himself that he would never fall for such an ugly, arrogant, airheaded girl after she decided to pour what she thought was in her heart to him. The princess, now completely heartbroken, now found herself refusing to leave her castle. The nobles would try to coax her out with sweet promises, but she fell for none of them. Even her closest knight, who worked for the princess to protect his little sister. She was certain his concern was superficial.

Her true fear had been thrown at her in the form of a harsh truth.

One day, though, the princess happened upon a peasant who knew nothing of her troubles. This peasant did not seem swayed by her beauty or talents, so the princess found it easier to want to talk to the peasant. After their talk, she realized that the feelings she had for the prince weren't love. She'd merely fallen under a spell that she seemed to cast on others. The person she truly loved, the one who showed more than superficial concern for her was that peasant. The peasant seemed to want her to be happy with herself and not try to please everyone. Unfortunately, the tale of the princess and the peasant only begins here, and the ending is lined with tragedy, heartbreak, and betrayal."

Once she finished speaking, Irina quickly placed her lips to mine and placed something in my hand.

Wait… Irina just kissed me… I don't know what to do! Should I wipe it off? No, that might offend her. Actually, it wasn't that bad… But I can't just not respond!

"The tragedy that presented itself in the story…" Irina continued, quickly turning away from me. "She brought it upon herself. She sold her soul to a demon just to insure her own safety, but she wound up sacrificing two of her dear friends in the meantime."

She was close to the exit now. "That device you're holding," she began. "It should help you escape the school. I'm guessing it has to do with this heavy door…"

Like the desperate idiot I am, I pressed the button. I'm not sure what made me trust her, but I felt like she also got caught up in this. Is she the one behind this…? I'm not sure. This exchange is only leaving me with more questions, but I'm sure I'll end up forgetting them once I wake up…

* * *

><p><em>A girl with long brown hair stood in front of me. She has a condescending smirk on her face, and her face is streaked with tears. A confusing combination.<em>

_ It was impossible to see who it could be. Her face was almost completely obscured by her hair. Is this Ryoko?_

_ "Who are you?!" I demanded to know. I was only answered with sadistic giggles._

_ "Guess," the girl replied. I don't have time for guessing games, but I don't think she'll tell me otherwise._

_ "You're Ryoko, aren't you?" I asked. More laughter._

_ "Nope~" she said. "Sorry, but I can only allow you that one guess. But don't worry, for we'll see each other again soon!"_

* * *

><p>"Ah!" I said as I woke up. My eyes immediately sealed themselves shut from the almost blinding whiteness of my new location. I tried to think of where I was while I tried to help my eyes adjust. Hm… I felt a downy surface underneath me, and I was now clothed in some soft white garb… I had narrowed my options down to two likely places by the time I noticed the box that the gloves came in.<p>

I'm in the second building hospital. Bunpei peeked around the curtains for my bed soon after the revalation.

"Rin-chama… Are you okay?" Bunpei asked me when I turned to look to him.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm still alive, so I guess I'm as okay as I can be."

"I meant…" he began, but soon trailed off. "Tou… Hanai-kun's execution… It was kinda brutal. You fainted after seeing it, so I thought you might have been kinda traumatized."

After seeing Tougo's execution… Wait. None of us saw Tougo's execution. Bunpei and Tobiki had fallen to the floor around the same time Tougo disappeared, so I doubt that any of us saw it…

"Furuda-kun," I said. "I didn't see his punishment…" The curtain on my other side moved, and the both of us turned to see Tobiki.

"I don't think either of you did," said Tobiki. "Furuda-kun, you passed out by the time it started…"

"Yeah, I did!" Bunpei countered. "He had to play a game of football with a bunch of super huge opposing players. The ball hit him in the back of his head, and then his head got knocked into one of the goal posts. It was awfuuuuuuuul!" Something about that doesn't seem right…

"Uh… That's completely wrong," said Tobiki. "Hanai-kun was forced to try to build a tower without any kind of safety gear. Once he finished the skeleton of the building, he wound up falling to his death…"

That doesn't seem right either. Why would they see two different executions…? Maybe…

"Is it possible that one of us is lying?" Bunpei asked. That's a good question…

"Nakauchi-san," Tobiki began. "You claimed that you didn't see it at all…"

"Uh… Yeah," I said.

"Then… YOU!" Bunpei said as he pointed at me. "You're hiding something, aren't you? How is it possible that you didn't see it at all?"

"You said yourself that I had passed out," I responded.

"Yeah, but that was after it happened," he said. "You should have seen what had happened."

"Wait a second, Furuda-kun," said Tobiki. "You were the one to pass out beforehand, so you shouldn't have seen anything at all."

"I think you guys are ignoring an important detail," I began. "The two of you saw two completely different executions. While it's not possible that he was killed twice, wouldn't it make more sense to think that someone's messing up what we think we saw?"

"Then…" Bunpei began. "What exactly did you 'see,' Rin?"

"The three of us were knocked out somehow," I said. "I saw the two of you on the ground a short while before I fell out. By then, Glasses had completely disappeared…"

"Excuse me? May I have your attention? It is now 10:00, meaning you assholes should go to bed!" I almost started missing Hanneko's nighttime announcements. "Since all three of you were asleep in the hospital, I guess I can't punish you. But I don't think I would have anyway, since we have a big day coming up~ I'll let your little hearts fill with anticipation as you try to guess what could happen!"

Bunpei sighed. "You know what? We should probably go back to our rooms, then set up a meeting tomorrow morning at 8."

"Right," I said. "We'll be able to discuss more if we think about what all's been happening. There's probably some snacks in the kitchen, in case either of you guys are hungry."

"Okay," said Tobiki. "Then, I'll go back to my room. Until tomorrow."

"Oh! I'll go with you," said Bunpei. "Later, Rin-chama."

So… the two of them left quickly. Good. I need some time to think to myself. Should I go back to that building and see if I can find more clues? Nah. That's where the bodies are, and they might try to sneak around there if they see me…

Bodies? Oh, yeah. That was in the plan, wasn't it?

… I've started thinking weird thoughts. Maybe I should go straight to bed… But I can't investigate if I do that… I think everything I need to know is in that building.

I got out of bed and immediately went to put on my shoes. For a while, I wandered around trying to figure out where the door to that building was. Once I found it, I was greeted by an annoyingly familiar sight.

"Whatcha doin' here, Nyakauchi?" Hanneko asked as soon as I saw him. Ugh.

"Oh, me?" I said. "I'm just preparing a crime~ I think I might even prepare a two-day advanced notice so that my victim knows it's coming." Hanneko was easily able to detect the fakeness in my tone.

"No, we won't have any more of that," said Hanneko. "Your excuse was as disappointing as that show, by the way. Now go back to your room. You wouldn't want the others to become suspicious of you, would you now?"

"Whatever," I said as I turned away. I decided not to oppose him to avoid a conflict. I really don't need that right now. I should still have Tougo's notes, so I could use those until tomorrow.

Once I arrived at my room, I noticed that my mailbox was open. An envelope with Hanneko's signature was placed in there, along with a small note that said "a gift." What I found on the inside of the envelope was a pair of glasses…

"Ugh," I groaned as I placed them in my hair and walked inside my room. Those notes should be hidden away somewhere… I pulled them out from the drawers in my desk. As I held them in my hands, a folded piece of paper fell out and caught my attention. I decided to read it first.

_Greetings,_ it read. _If you are reading this note, then there is a good chance of at least one of two events occurring._

_1. You decided to steal these in a lame attempt to postpone my figuring out who's behind this._

_2. I have been killed by one of the remaining students, and left this for someone to find._

_I'm going to assume it was the former over everything, but have prepared in case both of these things happened. I will assume that someone involved with the mastermind is reading this note, since it wouldn't make sense for someone not involved to be reading this. You've deceived us long enough, but soon you will be exposed as a fake._

_You were never really part of Class 80 like the rest of us. An obvious standout in a school full of unique children? You managed to replace other students and sneak in here unsuspected, but it wasn't hard to figure out. You probably think this is a lot of big talk for someone who hasn't presented any real evidence, but that's not for you to have. I can't believe you managed to trick us, but it was a good game while it lasted. Even your attempts at throwing us off course for who the mastermind is managed to mess us up, but it's almost over. You shouldn't have brought so much attention to yourself._

_I know you're the one reading this note, and your plans will be thwarted soon, Rin Nakauchi._

* * *

><p><strong>Hello! I hope you all are doing well on this day~<strong>

**If you're reading this, then thanks! You've finished reading through Chapter Five of this story, meaning the final chapter is on its way. Buuuuuut... It won't be here for a couple of weeks. I have a bunch of things coming up, so I'll need to take one more hiatus from this story (I sincerely apologize), but after that, the story will resume weekly all the way through the end. (I'll probably use that time to work out details in these last few updates).**

**Thank you all so much for reading the story, and I want to hear your guesses and ideas! If you have an idea about who's behind everything or how they managed to recreate the incident, be sure to leave a message or a review on this update. I really want to hear what you guys come up with~**


	30. Chapter Six: Ennui

**Hello~** **Here's a somewhat hastily-written chapter that should have been published last week. Sorry again for the delay, but as I mentioned a while ago, I'm not having much luck with technology ._. Even so, I'm not going to let that interfere with finishing this story! Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy the beginning to the sixth and final chapter! :D**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Why'd you do it?<strong>_

Shinobu Murai was constantly confronted by this question. He could not tell if he was hearing this question outside or inside his head anymore.

"I already told you," he said. "I was trying to keep Tobiki Wakabayashi safe. People who betray their friends don't deserve to have them."

"Hmm…" The voice hummed for a while. "I smell a lie," it said. "If you really wanted to keep the kid safe, you should have called out to the instead of attacking Tsukuru-kun."

Kun? Shinobu thought. "You seem to be familiar with him," he responded.

"Of course I am," the voice responded quickly. "We've been classmates for a pretty long time. Why should I pretend I don't know him? In fact, I should probably be less formal with you."

"Who are you?" Shinobu questioned sternly.

"This isn't about me," the voice said. "It's about you, and about your inability to admit the truth. You wanted to get out of here, so you took your chance, even going so far as banking on Tobiki Wakabayashi keeping quiet. Isn't that right?"

Shinobu kept denying this. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but the poor kid couldn't tell for whose sake he did it. His actions haunted him.

"Well," said the voice. "You're lucky. **I'm willing to offer you one more chance.**"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Why'd you do it?<strong>_

Ying Yanmei cried out her answer. "I already told you," she said. "Please stop asking me this! I didn't want to kill anyone! I never wanted to kill anyone! Ever!"

"Ha!" The voice laughed. "You never wanted to kill anyone? Not even your own family?"

"AAAGH!" Ying screamed. "I've been _trying_ to forget that! Stop throwing that in my face!"

"Hu? I'm sorry, does that still weigh on your conscience?" The voice was taunting her. Ying knew this, but she kept letting it get to her. "I didn't think anyone could be that evil, but I guess you can't know everyone. Just seeing you in school, I never would have guessed."

Huh? "In school?" Ying asked. "How would you ever know what I was like in school?"

"Hehehe," laughed the voice. "That'll be explained later. **I'm here to make a deal**."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Why'd you do it?<strong>_

Alice Darlington, using the name she still insisted on calling herself, pouted and spat her words as she said them.

"I already told you," she said, her voice dripping with hatred. "I wanted to get out of here. I hated every single one of them, but I needed to pretend at least one of them meant something to me."

"Oh?" The pestering voice interjected. "I don't believe that for a second. You and Ko Yamamoto seemed like the best of friends."

"That was an obvious ruse," said Alice. "She was one of the ones that I hated the most. How dare she try to call herself my friend? Who would want to be friends with such a boring, ugly, useless person?!"

"Hehehe," laughed the voice. "You say you hate her now, but you guys were still the best of friends. Some students used to even joke about you guys being long-lost cousins. Are you sure that you hate her so much?"

"… Of… Course," Alice said, although she knew that she didn't mean it. She knew that she didn't hate any of them. All this time, the existence she hated the most was her own. A sudden wave of emotions hit her.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She shouted through her tears. "None of those people meant anything to me. All of them were worthless filth! Especially that talentless waste of matter!"

"Cut the act," said the voice. "And tell me. **Are you still willing to sacrifice their lives for your own**?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Why'd you do it?<strong>_

Kotaka Ido frowned. "I already told you," she said. "It was a life or death situation. If I had let her kill me, then the others—"

"Stop pretending you care about those bastards," said the voice. "If you sincerely wanted them to make it out alive, why didn't you confess?"

Kotaka was affronted. "No one could so easily confess to such a thing," she said. "Well, no one sane, anyway."

"Puhuhuhu," said the voice. "I could."

"Irrelevant," Kotaka said. "I don't know who you are, but you seem to know all of us very well. Who are you, and what have you done with all of our memories?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I am **[Classified Information]. **I went to school at **[Classified Information]**, and I stole your memories in order to **[Classified Information]**."

Kotaka gritted her teeth. She did not appreciate the fact that the voice declined telling her anything of importance. "Whatever," she said. "Whoever you are, you will be arrested! They might even extend a normal sentence just so that it encompasses the entirety of your miserable life."

"So harsh~" the voice cooed. "Is this what happens to single women when they're alone for too long?"

Kotaka was offended. Of course, she hadn't forgotten about Yasushi Sugihara, but she didn't appreciate this coward throwing this fact in her face so carelessly.

"What kind of sick person makes fun of another's death?"

"The kind with a lot of power," said the voice. "I might even be something like a god. **You may want to cooperate with me if you want a second chance**."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Why'd you do it?<strong>_

Tougo Hanai sighed, as expected. "I don't appreciate the fact that I have to keep explaining," he said irritatedly. The voice laughed mockingly.

"What's the matter, Four Eyes? Still cranky because you never got the chance to go to sleep?"

Tougo ignored that last statement.

"Or maybe there was someone you never had the chance to sleep with?"

"Stop being disgusting," he responded quickly. "And answer me this: if you find yourself cornered, are you prepared to admit to your crimes?"

"Hu? What's this all of a sudden?" The voice asked. "You mean, am I gonna confess to being the mastermind if I'm found out?"

"Exactly," said Tougo. The voice laughed again.

"Answer me!" Tougo commanded.

"Ah~ You've become more assertive since this game began," said the voice. "And since you were such an interesting player, I'll give you a hint. Yes, the mastermind will confess once cornered, but you're also completely wrong."

"What do you mean I'm 'completely wrong'?" Tougo asked.

"Spoilers, kid," said the voice. "Anyway, about that first question—"

"Whatever," said Tougo. "If you're trying to break my resolve or something lame like that, it's not going to work. I was tricked, and I don't feel guilty. However it ended, I would have made sure everyone was fine."

"Poo, you're no fun," said the voice. "Are you suuuuuuure, though? **I might even have an interesting proposal for you**."

* * *

><p>Rin… Nakauchi? That… that can't be right. Maybe I read it wrong. But… I'm pretty sure there's no one in existence named "Rin Chuunai." In any case, he's completely wrong. There's no way I could be the mastermind. I only knew about as much as anyone else about what was going on.<p>

Or maybe… It is possible. I was the one to write those notes down, after all…

….. I'm not even sure I know what I'm even thinking about. Oh, well. I shouldn't think too much about it now, it might give me nightmares.

* * *

><p><em>Tears. Everyone's dressed in black. Someone has died. The coffin's closed, so I can't see who it is, though I know too well. I stood up and ran outside the building, tears falling behind me. This is what I deserve. This is what I get for making friends. This is what I get for talking to that person.<em>

_ I ran into an alley. It's raining, making it harder for anyone to notice my state, but someone found me. He must have followed after me to see if I was okay, but I'm not. I ran further, to that high school, where the incident occurred. The doors were unlocked. I ran, nonstop, to the roof, then walked to the edge. I could hear panting behind me._

_ "Don't," he said as he grabbed me from behind and pulled me away. I tried to break free from him, but he refused to let me go._

_ "I'm not going to jump, if that's what you're worried about," I said. "Please just let me go."_

_ He still held on to me, though his hold did loosen a bit. He buried his head in my shoulder._

_ "You dumbass," he said. "Do you realize what kind of scene you've made?"_

_ "I don't care," I said. I turned to face him. "I'm sorry… Everything that's happened… It's all my fault."_

_ He didn't respond. He just held me tighter._

"_Shut up," he said. His voice shook. I didn't need to look up at him to find the source of the slightly warmer raindrops falling on my face._

* * *

><p><em>I've changed a lot within the past years, and even more within these two days. I've since then gotten rid of my attachment to the one I used to call a friend. We met in our usual spot, but this time the one I spoke to took the form of Shinobu Murai.<em>

"_I quit," I said. "I know you had to do with everything that's been happening. Dayzayspwa, why are you throwing the world into chaos?!"_

"_The worldwide chaos has not yet begun, Tantei," said Dayzayspwa mockingly, calling me by the nickname some other detectives have called me. "Currently, it's just your world."_

"_AAGH!" I said as I hit a locker. I didn't worry about causing a scene since the school has been closed down._

"_All those people… I didn't realize before," I said. "What are you doing? Just what are you trying to achieve?" At this point, I had grabbed Day by the collar of his shirt. The fact that he was here as one of the scariest people I've ever met didn't occur to me at the time._

"_Nyahaha," he said. "What are you gonna do? Beat me up?"_

_I felt a sharp pain in my side, and noticed my grip slackening. "What the… how…"_

"_Everything's only just beginning, Tantei," said Day as he held me up by my chin. I had completely fallen over at this point, giving me a good view of the needle in his other hand. "I hope you didn't plan on having those two eyeglass nerds try to save you, love. Heh, you might not have fallen for it if you knew the French word for 'despair'."_

"_You… damn it," I said. He continued._

"_I didn't want to have to do this to you," he said. "But you've kinda messed yourself up. This game would have been so much easier for you, but now I have to reset you like everyone else. Don't worry, though. I'll make sure you stay safe."_

_He kissed my forehead before picking me up._

"_God… damn it… you bitch… Ryoko," I said. Nothing notable happened beyond this point. I was already long gone._

* * *

><p>"Aagh!" I screamed as I woke up, hearing a small <em>click<em> on the ground. Just what the hell was that? It felt like me, but at the same time, those thoughts and actions felt foreign…

I heard a knock at my door. "Nakauchi," said a male voice from the other end. Who the heck could that be? No one that ever called me by that name is still alive… Then again, there's really only one person that could be.

"Furuda-kun?" I inquired. I never got a direct answer.

"Get ready soon," he said. "Hanneko's holding an assembly in the cafeteria at nine, and I wanted us to meet beforehand."

Is he taking over? Eh, that's fine by me. To be honest, I've doubted my leadership skills from the beginning, so it's a bit of a relief that someone trustworthy wants to take over (although somewhat insulting).

"Alright," I responded. After doing my normal daily preparations and investigating the source of the clicking I heard earlier (which turned out only to be that pair of glasses I received), I exited from my room and made my way to the cafeteria, making sure my ID and the glasses were securely in my pockets.

This place has become much quieter… It doesn't seem like it was about as noisy as any other school just a few weeks ago. It feels like it's been months, but it also feels like no time has passed at all… I hate that kind of feeling.

I tried not to think too much about this, since remembering everything that's happened would almost certainly push me on the brink of tearing up. In a way, it's starting to make me wonder. What if these people aren't actually dead? What if we're just in some sort of simulation, and everyone wakes up when this game is over? Hell, what if they never even existed, and I'm just having a ridiculously realistic hallucination? Heh, that kind of twist in this story would be extremely horrible. It'd be like some higher power were playing some kind of cruel prank on me.

Before long, I found myself in the cafeteria. I'm guessing Bunpei decided to prepare breakfast for us, judging by the fact that one section of the table hosted a sort of buffet, and the two boys didn't hesitate in eating any of it. If they had, I'd have guessed that Hanneko made it.

"Hi, Nakauchi-san," said Tobiki when he noticed me.

"Morning, Wakabayashi-kun, Furuda-kun," I said. "So, is it safe to assume that neither of you will try to kill me?"

"Please don't joke about something like that," responded Bunpei immediately. "Anyway, since it is just the three of us left, we need to concentrate all of our efforts into escaping this school!"

"Isn't that what we've been trying to do from the beginning?" Tobiki asked. "Yeah… That's been our goal from the start, back when there were sixteen—or maybe seventeen—total students here. Now that there's just the three of us, is there even a point to trying to escape? We've failed everyone so horribly already, do we even deserve the chance to leave?"

"Shut it," I said. I didn't have any good reason for telling him this. I just didn't want that realization thrown in our faces like that. Tobiki has some valid points. Do we deserve to leave and try to find happiness in the outside world, while all of our companions were forced to die in seclusion?

The other two were silent for a while.

"… I'm sorry, Wakabayashi-kun," I said.

"Nah, I understand," he said. "I was out of line in saying that."

Something tells me that he didn't really mean that.

"But I have a question for you, Nakauchi-san," he said.

"Shoot."

"Where did you go after the trial?"

"Where did I go?" It was straightforward enough as a question. Why couldn't I give a straightforward answer? _I went to the hospital with you two, I guess,_ I wanted to say, but something about that seemed untrue. I wound up at the old building first. I couldn't say that I was with them the whole time without feeling like I was lying…

"I was at the hospital, of course," I decided to say. "I thought I went around the same time you guys did. Anyway, is it okay if I propose an idea?"

"Depends," said Bunpei.

"Is… Is it okay if we stay separate for a while?" I asked. It's extremely unlikely that another murder will happen, and I trust these guys not to try something underhanded.

"I mean," I said, "I trust you guys, but I think that with everything that's happened, it'd be good for us to leave each other alone for a while."

"So…" Bunpei tried to formulate his next statement. "You want us to not communicate with each other at all?"

"No, that's not what I meant," I said. "I just…"

"I get what you mean," said Tobiki. "Joining in with you guys after Ken-kun died made me feel somewhat guilty, and I didn't really want to be around anyone, even though I tried to hide it…"

"Right… kinda," I said. I'm not sure why, but I think that'd probably be best for us…

"Nya-ho~" Hanneko mewed. "No need for you bastards to do that at this point. Excited to see me?"

"No," we all said firmly, in unison.

"Hehe, I expected as much," he said. He hopped on the table we were using. "But I bet you will be after I give you this nyews!"

"Just get on with it," I commanded.

"Wow, someone's bossy today," Hanneko retorted. "In any case, people tend to get bored of certain hobbies if they continue with them for too long. Say, for instance, you were a top-notch baseball player, but your real passion was pursuing a career in the music industry. It'd be hard to get people to take you seriously, since all you were really good at was baseball, and no one knows just how much talent you _really_ have for music. Most people would just tell you to stick with the sport since you're already in a good place there. Hearing that over and over would make you want to quit it more and prove them wrong, right?"

"I still don't see a point to this," I said. Hanneko sighed.

"Anyway," he continued. "You guys have stopped being interesting, so I've decided to host one final class trial! An all or nothing battle against you guys and the mastermind!"

"So he's just going to reveal himself as the one behind this?" Bunpei asked.

"_That_, my friend, is part of the battle," Hanneko replied. "If you guys can solve all the mysteries behind this school, I'll end the game, and you guys will no longer have to live in fear of each other like pathetic rats under a cat's heavy surveillance. I'll have more rules for you guys when the trial comes. Until then study up! And check your ElectroIDs for a couple of helpful hints."

I can't believe this. I grabbed Hanneko by his ears, only barely keeping myself from trying to rip him in half.

"Then just what was the point of everything I've done so far!?" I asked furiously. "If you were just going to let us go, then why bother giving me that ultimatum?! If this was what it'd come to, I may as well have just **shut you down**."

"Calm down, kid," whispered Hanneko. "If you say too much more, you could turn into mastermind suspect _numero un_, capisce?"

"Me? A suspect?" I said. These guys know better, and I don't appreciate Hanneko insinuating this.

"Anyway, put me down," said Hanneko. "I've got coding to edit. Later nya~"

I complied, against my better judgment. As soon as I let him go, I heard a _nya nya_ from my pocket and a _poof_ from Hanneko's direction. Naturally, he was gone when we turned to look for him.

"AAARGH!" I yelled.

"Calm down," said Bunpei. "This could be our chance to escape… We can't have our main investigator getting mad like this."

Bunpei has a point…

"Alright," I said, trying to calm myself down. "Well, Hanneko never said how much time we have to investigate, so we should start as soon as possible. Let's look at those hints and see if they'll actually be of use to us."

The three of us pulled out our IDs. It seemed like we were waiting for each other before we began.

"Alright," I said. "First hint: Only seventeen students have been in this school since this game began." Really? That means that everyone in the game… they'd be the only people to have ever been in the school. So, the mastermind has to have been one of us.

"Second," continued Tobiki. "One of the students was given a fake SHSL Title from the beginning. Someone among you was actually not a Hope's Peak "student."

One of us wasn't actually a Hope's Peak Student? Something about that information was worrying…

"Not everything we believe is true," Bunpei read. "What the crap?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"We can discuss that at the trial," I said. "The next hint says that every person except one started the game with no memories of the past one and a half years." So, it's been at least one and a half years since Hope's Peak's last school session took place…

"Final hint," said Tobiki. "The mastermind had significant national and international influence. There are quite a few students that could apply to…"

"So, in other words, we still have no idea who's behind this," said Bunpei.

"Yeah, we're off to a pretty good start," I said sarcastically. We need to figure out everything else on our own, but these hints would help if we're assuming they're all true.

"Even then," said Tobiki. "These hints still tell us a lot if we think about what all they could mean."

"We should discuss that at the trial," I said. "For now, let's split up and try to find out more."

"Why do you keep insisting we split up?" Bunpei asked accusingly. Why, indeed.

"I… I just thought we'd figure out more if we split up to look for clues," I said. Bunpei nodded as if he were admitting that I had a point.

"Fine," he said. "Then, we've got no time to waste. I'm going to the library. Good luck, you guys." With that, he bolted out of the cafeteria.

"I'll try to figure out what these hints mean," said Tobiki before leaving.

Finally, those two are gone. I sat down in my chair and read through the hints again while thinking about what I should do. I don't really want to, but I think I should go back to the Future Foundation Building and figure out exactly what happened there.

Wait. When did we decide on that title for it? Well, it was called that when we were in school, so it only makes sense that—

I tried to interrupt that train of thought. I'm starting to worry myself. Well, anyway, the best option now would be going there, no matter what it's called, since Tougo's notes would almost certainly be useless. That building could have the most information hidden in it, since no one ever wanted to go there. I placed the glasses I carried on my head again, hoping maybe the wearer's resolve would reach me through them. After this, I should look for those files that were stolen a while back.


	31. Chapter Six: Incertitude--SPT4?

**Long time no see~ Sorry for not updating, but school's still kicking my butt, so I need to get that under control. Also, this chapter is pretty short and pretty rushed. More details that I may have missed might be added later, but there's still enough to figure out what I want you guys to know at this point. Well, enjoy~**

**It's almost over, guys! I'm definitely going to miss this story when it's done. If you liked everything so far (or even if you hated it), please leave a review (sorry if I'm being bothersome in asking this)~**

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><p>Hesitantly, I opened the door to the Old SchoolFuture Foundation/Whatever Building and made my way to the second floor, since I had already seen enough of the first floor. Even though Tougo told me that there was nothing of importance here, for some reason, I didn't want to believe him after that accusation. Surprisingly, this floor was a lot less eerie than the first floor. Maybe it's because the lighting here is better.

Classrooms, lockers, posters... Seems like a typical school. That shouldn't surprise me, but it does. I can't find any traps or hindrances anywhere. Maybe some of the posters have hints...

I looked at a bulletin board lined with club and event posters. Among them was a flier advertising for a band called K-Boiz (never heard of them), and some for fan clubs about some of the students here. There was one for a magician girl, one for someone's blog (probably Neko's), one for the most popular boys in Class 80 (ick), and... One called "Cold in House Fans"... Something about that made me uncomfortable.**

Anyway, why would there be so many fan clubs for the students here? It seems kinda creepy, especially considering that the clubs would have to be populated by other students. For that matter, why the hell would the staff approve some of these at all?! Besides, did the other Hope's Peak students actually make these clubs?

... That's probably a mystery for another day. I should continue looking for actual clues.

I walked around the second floor some more, not finding anything noteworthy. The third floor might...

I happened upon a set of open lockers. Most of them still held textbooks, notes, and decorations from the other students. I wonder if I had one here...

Surely enough, I had a locker here as well. I didn't really have any pictures like the other ones did, but I did have a really thick and worn-out notebook, for some reason. Upon opening it, several papers spilled out. The information on them caught my attention.

"Tamaki Yanaihara," I read. "Relationships: Close friend to Alice Darlington and Ko Yamamoto. Friend to Tobiki Wakabayashi and Kenzo Tsukuru. Skills: Could possibly help in creating some disguises, overall none noteworthy. Mostly useless. Secret: May have done some shady things to make a name for himself in the costuming world, though unconfirmed."

What the fuck... Why would I have this kind of information on Tamaki? Actually, in looking at the other papers that fell, I realized that I have this kind of information on everyone that was here. I decided to read the notebook itself, hoping it had some clues as to what all this would mean.

"Despair Legacy, Experiment: Success," I read. "Despair Legacy, Operation: Ongoing. Seventeen subjects. Mastermind participation. One hidden student (to be determined at a later time). Possible moles: Irina Fujimori, Tougo Hanai, Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov, Nezumi Muon. One definite mole."

Okay, I'm getting pretty worried. These seem like the kind of notes that the mastermind would keep... Actually, this is definitely not something I'd write down... But this is my handwriting... in looking at the other lockers, I found that none of the other students had handwriting resembling mine. Still... it probably has nothing to do with me. Yeah. There's no way... There may be… Maybe I did write this… t's not possible for it to have been anyone else… But why…

I figured since I was there, I should probably check out the other lockers (I also needed to get my mind off of those notes). Of course, most of them had goofy teenager stuff, like pictures and to-do lists, along with the notes and such. Tougo's locker featured a picture with him and his little sister, along with some brown-haired girl that I didn't recognize. It looked like they were at some sort of summer festival, judging from the two girls' clothing as well as the background. The other girl seemed pretty, but she had a pretty annoyed expression.

"Probably from being near that guy," I said. Well, there doesn't seem to be anything else that could name him as the puppetmaster... Except maybe... A note? The only other thing that stood out in there was a horribly-written note.

"Stay away from New Hope's Peak," I read. "If you attend that school, you will be killed. You have been warned."

Alrighty then. I began to put the note back, but I noticed something written on it in a different handwriting.

"Stop the rebirth of despair," I read. "Talk to Togami-sensei about a certain person's so-called friend. Rin/Désespoir is planning something sinister and must be stopped."

What the fuck is a désespoir, and what does that have to do with me? What sinister thing could I possibly be planning? That asshole's probably just trying to throw me off course. He found this place long before I did, so he probably planted this here. Forget it. I should look into Irina's locker.

I don't know why I imagined the locker of an international superstar to be much different, but it had the same basic kind of stuff as the other lockers. Well, except underneath the photo featuring her and a popular male idol, an unsettling caption was present.

_"Is this what despair feels like?"_

Okay, that seems like all that is necessary for me to read. I've been wasting so much time here, I kinda forgot that we are under a time constraint.

"Nya-ho~ May I have your attention?" Hanneko spoke over the PA system. I almost forgot about him.

"Since this will be the last and most exciting trial yet, I wanted to make sure you bastards had enough time to scrape up what meager evidence you could come up with! For that reason, there is no official investigation time limit. When you're all finished, make a trip to your bedrooms, then go to the gymnasium. There's a special surprise in there for you all, nyuhuhu!"

Well, that managed to quell my worries at least a little bit, although I definitely don't want to visit my room. I made my way to the third floor. More classrooms, more lockers, more posters for clubs that definitely should not have been approved. Didn't find much that stood out besides another suspicious hallway similar to the one on the first floor. Naturally, I had to walk along it and see what was up. Interestingly enough, I was greeted by a door similar to the one leading to the coma patients on the first floor...

I opened the door slowly, half-expecting some sort of trap. I was lucky enough to not have the misfortune of falling into one as I entered, though. Again, I heard a faint beeping noise from the opposite end of the room. It's unlikely that they'd be the same people I saw on the first floor, though. I decided to go over there and see exactly who...

All of these forms... They look familiar. Much like the people downstairs, these guys had papers obstructing their faces, but that didn't keep me from recognizing who they were.

I went to the bed of a boy with short red hair peeking out from behind the sheet, then proceeded to remove it. Surely enough, my guess was correct. The occupant of this bed is Shinobu Murai, the Super High School Level Martial Artist. But... I saw him get executed... His body should be smashed up, but here it is, almost as healthy as the day I met him... But if he's here...

I went to check the next bed over. The paper obscuring the face of this green-haired girl read "Ying Yanmei."

Ying... Again, she was unexpectedly healthy-looking. If I remember correctly, Ying was dragged away and eaten by "zombies," so her body should have some sort of mutilation... There was none.

Same with all the other people here. Alice/Tana didn't have a single broken bone despite falling, and Kotaka didn't have any kind of burns... Inconsistent with the fact that she was caught in an explosion... Wait... if this is following the same pattern I'm expecting it to follow, then the next bed...

With a strange and unfounded nervousness, I approached the last bed in the room. Slowly, as if trying not to wake the person underneath, I removed the sheet of paper hiding this person's face. Of course, this was somewhat unnecessary, since I already knew who it was. Hm... Nothing consistent with either Tobiki's or Bunpei's stories was apparent. He looked exactly the same as when I saw him... How long ago was that? It seems like it happened a long time before yesterday... But there's something missing...

I examined the glasses I had with me. Something in me says I should return them, but I really wanted to carry them with me in the trial...

I walked away, firmly clutching the spectacles. He won't need them, I guess. Maybe they'll be luckier for me than they were for him...

Quickly, I ran back to the first floor of the building. I feel like I've seen all that I need to—

Ack! I tripped and fell as I ran. Luckily for me, I wasn't too injured to stand back up. I tripped on... A newspaper? The headline mentioned a hotel that had been destroyed in a terroristic attack. Not sure that the information would actually help, so I left it there. Right now, I need to go find those files that Irina took. In checking my ID, I learned that it was around 1:30...

"Looking for something?"

Startled, I turned to find Hanneko looking at me and holding the files that Irina took.

"Give me those," I commanded as I walked to snatch them away from him. He didn't put up a fight.

"Lol," said Hanneko. He literally said "lol." It was kinda weird. "You seem troubled."

"Gee, I wonder why," I said. "Anyway, why do you have some of our friends hidden in here? And what the hell did you do to the others?"

"Cálmate, Nyakauchi," said Hanneko. "If you do well in the trial, you'll be able to figure that out on your own. Laters~ Also, be sure to go by your room. I promise there's nothing deadly in there~"

He left, and I sighed. I guess I'll have to go there, since he keeps pestering us about it. It's unlikely that he'll try to kill us without making some ridiculous spectacle out of it, though. Actually... That opens the door for a couple of questions to come out. Why is he suddenly deciding to end this ridiculous charade? The Hanneko I know wouldn't end this for no reason. A better question might be if this is actually ending, and we're not falling into some kind of trap...?

I made it back to the main building in one piece. Not sure why I would expect not to, considering the fact that nothing particularly life-threatening happened in there. I checked my ElectroID in order to see where Bunpei and Tobiki were. It looks like they're in the library in the Research Building... I guess they didn't follow my advice of splitting up. I kinda wonder what's going on in there...

It didn't take me to long to get to the Research Building and find the guys. They didn't notice as I hid behind a set of bookshelves.

"Something's definitely off here," Bunpei said. Looks like we have a new contender for understatement of the century.

"I know," said Tobiki. "But we need to try it. This plan seems like it could work, and these notes make sense. If all goes well, we three will be okay."

"Hey, guys," I said as I decided to break the tension.

"AAAAARGH!" The startled Bunpei yelled. "Don't sneak up on us like that, man! I was surprised."

"Hehe, sorry," I replied. "What did you guys figure out?"

"Not much," said Tobiki. "Anyway, we've done enough. We should go back to our rooms now."

Tobiki gathered up the papers that were scattered around the table, then proceeded to leave with them. Oddly enough, Bunpei didn't immediately follow him.

"Hey, Nakauchi," Bunpei began. "What was that about shutting Hanneko down? What you said earlier?"

"Oh? I thought I already answered that question," I said. "But it was just a bluff. I mean, it's not like I know how Hanneko works."

For some reason, that felt like a lie. I do know how Hanneko works. After all, I kinda had a part in his creation.

"Hm..." Bunpei interrupted my thoughts (thank goodness). "Alright. I'll believe you. Now, let's go. I'm pretty sure we don't want to miss this."

"Yeah, I guess not," I agreed. For some reason, Bunpei and Tobiki seem to be more distant... What's up with them? Eh, maybe it's because of everything that's happened... That's odd... I don't feel too different... Except I seem to be having more headaches...

Without thinking, I opened the door to my dorm. Luckily for me (I seem to be feeling very fortunate today), there was no kind of trap. With that thought, I guess this'll be the last time I walk in here...

Good fucking riddance.

I looked around once more as I remembered all the bullshit everyone's been through... for some reason, I didn't feel too sad. I guess I was more relieved than anything, even though I realized that fourteen (thirteen?) kids and former friends died here. I don't think I'd have ever expected my graduation from high school to turn out like this...

On my bed, there was some sort of uniform along with a note.

"Hope you enjoy your surprise, nyuhuhu," I read aloud. Could this have been my Hope's Peak uniform? I picked up the folded brown blazer and button-down shirt and decided to try them on... A perfect fit. Still on my bed was a short, navy blue skirt and two kitty hairclips, featuring one white cat and one blue one, along with one final note.

"Since I know how much you like hairclips, have these as a parting gift," I read... I do like hairclips, although I don't exactly favor ones with specific motifs. How would the mastermind know that? For that matter, I'm even being made to wear this skirt... This person could have revealed this and much more important secrets at any point. Why is he only waiting until now?

Maybe I'll be able to ask during this trial. After making sure I was completely dressed, I grabbed the two IDs I possessed, along with the one pair of glasses (maybe I thought keeping artifacts from my two closest friends would help me get through this), and went to the gymnasium, where I was greeted by the two remaining guys. Both of them had their own uniforms.

"Called it," said Bunpei half-jokingly. He wore his jacket around his waist, which kinda bothered me. Tobiki wore his uniform properly, though. It seemed to consist of a brown blazer, a white button-down shirt, and brown slacks. I caught myself wondering how the others would look in their uniforms...

"Nyalright!" Hanneko appeared at the podium. "Welcome to the beginning of the Final Class Trial! And may I say, you all look adorable in your school uniforms! Especially our resident schoolgirl detective, Rin-chan!"

"Just shut up so we can get on with this," I yelled, to Hanneko's amusement.

"Haha! Alright. All the rules will be explained in the courtroom. If you have any objections, now's the time to speak up. Most of you won't be able to leave until the trial is over, so be sure that you have all the information you need. Step on the logo, and try to keep your balance," warned Hanneko before disappearing himself, also not waiting for any objections. Seeing as we were already standing on the logo, we didn't have to move much. So, this is it. In a couple more hours, this game will be over, and we'll get to go free if all goes well.

For some reason, a feeling of uneasiness instead of relief filled me as we went down further.

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><p>**The symbols for Rin's name all mean in ("naka"), house ("uchi"), and cold ("Rin"). Yes, Rin's family name was completely intentional. Also, the club's name is meant to be stupid.<p> 


	32. Chapter Six: La Mefiance

The courtroom didn't really look like a courtroom today. Honestly, it was decorated more like a classroom. Chalkboards with Hanneko's face on them lined the walls, and the podia were somewhat reminiscent of desks. This time, there were fourteen black and white images…

"Alright, you Super High School Level Bastards," said Hanneko. "Ready to get this show on the road?"

"Not quite," I said. "Aren't there some rules that you have to go over?"

"I'm getting to that, _Rin-chan_, nyuhuhu," Hanneko laughed. I didn't like how he said my name.

"Okay, since this is the Super Special Final Class Trial, we're going to need some Super Special New Rules, right?" Hanneko paused. Bunpei opened his mouth to respond, but Hanneko interrupted him.

"Of course we are! Don't need any obvious answers from the comic relief," said Hanneko rudely. Bunpei glared at him.

"So, much like the previous trials, you hapless bastards will have to discuss who the culprit is in this case. Except, for this case, you have to find the culprit behind this mutual massacre as opposed to just one silly little murder. If you can successfully do that, then you're free to go cry to your mommies outside the school! If not, then you'll have to spend the rest of your lives in this school!"

"Wait," interrupted Tobiki. "We won't be executed if we get this one wrong?"

"Nah," said Hanneko. "I'm runnin' out of unique and fitting execution ideas, so there won't be any more. But, if you convict one of the remaining living bastards, the last two students will have to live with the guilt of knowing that they sent one of their friends to their death. Of course, I won't tell you if you're right until after the execution."

The stakes have been raised, huh? Well, it doesn't matter. I'm certain that Bunpei and Tobiki are completely innocent, and I trust that they know this about me.

_Are you sure?_

"Any questions?" Hanneko asked.

"Of course," said Bunpei. "What exactly are those hints supposed to mean?"

"What, the ones from earlier? Weren't they clear enough?" Hanneko asked tauntingly.

"Not in the slightest," said Tobiki.

"Well, that's fine," said Hanneko. "Also! I'll be joining your discussion today, but I won't take any of the podiums. Can't lead you to believe I'm a certain person by taking one specific podium, now, can I?"

"I guess that's okay," I responded. "But don't try to trick us into picking the wrong person."

"Nyuhuhu," Hanneko laughed. He didn't respond to my command…

Command? What an odd word to use in this case.

"So," said Tobiki. "We have the clues that we've been given, along with the evidence we gathered earlier. What should we discuss first?"

"First, we need to talk about a couple of things," said Bunpei. "Nakauchi! Are you connected in any way to the mastermind?"

"Huh?" I asked. Me? What connection would I have to the one behind this?

"Nyahaha," said Hanneko. "Making direct accusations already? Interesting."

"I… I'm not connected to this at all," I lied. I'm hoping the other two believed it, though. I don't want to admit this, but I'm starting to think I actually might have something to do with this. But… I can't be the mastermind. I haven't had any memories of what's happened before we were trapped here.

That's a lie.

I guess it might be… Slowly, I've started remembering things that happened when we were in school… I had those dreams about the first day, then Luka coming to school, then that funeral… Wait. I'm not the only one who had memories from before. Irina herself… She couldn't have known about that prince if she was missing her memories like we were… Either that hint was a lie, or it doesn't apply to me…

"I can't believe that completely," said Tobiki. "Nakauchi-san, please prove us wrong somehow…"

I don't know how…

"Fine," I said. "Ask me any question you want. I promise to answer completely truthfully." Hopefully I won't have to break that promise.

"Alright," said Tobiki. "After Hanai-kun's trial and before you arrived at the hospital, where did you go?"

"Uh… I was brought to the hospital with you guys after we passed out," I said.

"Nyahaha!" Hanneko laughed. "Already breaking your promise, Rin-chan?"

I slammed my hands on my desk-podium. "Stop calling me Rin-chan!" I yelled at Hanneko. "And I'm not breaking any kind of promise!"

"Oh, really?" Hanneko inquired. "Then, when did this happen?"

Hanneko pulled a small remote control from behind him and pointed it upward. The television screen that displayed almost every culprit's execution descended. Exactly what the hell is he planning now?

Suddenly, two forms appeared on the screen in an eerily familiar hallway. I recognized them both immediately. Bunpei and Tobiki stared intently at the screen, as if they were analyzing every little detail of the video.

At this point, Irina had kissed me and handed me the button. Hanneko paused the video before it could show what happened to me when that encounter was over.

Bunpei, whose face had become completely pink at this point, turned to look at me.

"What's the meaning of this?!" It was kinda hard to take him seriously when he looked like that. Accidentally, I let a laugh pass my lips.

"Ha—ack, I mean, I thought that was a weird dream," I said.

"A very weird dream indeed," said Tobiki. "But when did this happen? It can't be any time but recently, since Irina seems to be holding a Monokuma doll."

That logic's kinda flawed, but I can't prove him wrong about that without bringing more suspicion upon myself…

"That was… After Glasses's execution," I said. "But, if anything, this should only prove that Irina's still alive and possibly connected to the one behind this, if not being the mastermind herself!"

"Well, well," said Hanneko. "It's too early to draw any conclusions just yet. Let's discuss some other matters, shall we?"

"Actually, we need to discuss Irina's involvement further," said Bunpei. "Before she disappeared, she had been going on about despair, as well as the person she 'loves.' Nakauchi, do you know who that is?"

Who Irina loves? She described him as a sort of prince… He was probably just that idol guy in the picture in her locker.

Wait, I've got that wrong. Irina told me that she wound up falling in love with a peasant… Actually, I know exactly who that is…

"Irina was… in love with Glasses, right?" I whispered feebly. There are at least three people that know that's not true…

"Stop trying to hide it," said one of those three people. "We just saw that video where you two… Anyway, it's obviously supposed to be you!"

"Stop acting like we did something unspeakable!" I yelled at Bunpei. "And _she_ kissed _me!_ I didn't know who this 'love' person was until she told me!"

"Nya, calm down, Rin-ch—"

"I swear to God, Hanneko," I said, trying to sound somewhat threatening. Why does he keep calling me Rin-chan?

"Actually, that reminds me," said Tobiki. "We recently found out about a person called 'Ryoko.' Nakauchi-san, would you happen to know who that was?"

"I have no idea," I answered truthfully. "The only thing I know about this 'Ryoko' person is that she could possibly be the puppetmaster here…"

"Oh? Alright," said Tobiki. I could tell that he didn't believe me.

"Ryoko…" Hanneko meowed. "That's a girl's name, isn't it? Nyuhuhu. Anyone think it's time to talk about a couple of those hints yet?"

We probably should bring those hints into the discussion at some point… I guess now is as good a time as ever.

"Fine, Hanneko," I obliged. "Which hints did you have in mind?"

"The ones about there being a fake student, and the one about what you guys know not being all true," responded Hanneko.

"Also," said Bunpei. "I'd like to discuss one more of these before we finish."

"Sure thing, Flapjack," said Hanneko.

"What the hell kind of nickname is that?" Bunpei asked.

"Anyway," said Tobiki. "I actually have reason to believe that someone here isn't really a Hope's Peak student, and never has been."

"Oh?" Hanneko sounded surprised. "What reason was that?"

"The title of 'Super High School Level Good Luck'," said Tobiki. "Recently, Furuda-kun and I learned that the old committee over Hope's Peak had decided to conduct research on the 'talent' that is luck. But, of course, with a new generation comes new ideas, and new opinions. Most of the older generation wanted to do away with the 'lucky student' system after an unnamed boy managed to cause problems for others that somehow always seemed to rule in his favor. However, it was only after the school was reopened that the decision was finalized. After Class Seventy-Eight, no 'lucky' kid has managed to set foot in any incarnation of Hope's Peak."

Wait. That sounds wrong. There was someone who went by the title of Super High School Level Good Luck when we were in school…

"But…" I said. "There had to be a lucky student. Nezumi mentioned there being one on the first day, and you all were aware of it…"

"We were aware that you claimed to be this 'luckster', Nakauchi," said Bunpei. "We all went along with it, not suspecting a thing. Hope's Peak had the lottery system in place for a pretty decent amount of time, so it's natural that we'd assume that there would be one. Of course, we were wrong."

"Wait," I said. "What evidence do you have that there was really no luckster here?"

"Glad you asked, Nakauchi," said Bunpei as he pulled out a rolled-up notebook. He unrolled it, revealing the official Hope's Peak crest.

"This is the official roster for the most recent classes in New Hope's Peak," said Bunpei. "We found it in that office that you tried to keep secret."

"Yeah," said Tobiki. "The two of us read through it several times. The names have all been crossed out, but almost all of the talents were left intact. I'm certain that none of them read 'Super High School Level Good Luck'."

"Hand me that," I commanded. Surprisingly, Bunpei complied.

"No point trying to destroy evidence now," he said.

"I'm not trying to do that," I snapped back. Surely enough, one of them was crossed out. It was too long to read "Super High School Good Luck." Maybe that's how they're so certain…

Still. There's too much uncertainty in that! Why are these guys trying so hard to throw me under the bus?! When did this start happening? I guess it was around the time…

Does that four-eyed asshole have something to do with this? He has to… He was the first person to accuse me of being behind this, wasn't he?...

"You two!" I exclaimed. "Did Glasses put you up to this?"

"We weren't 'put up' to anything," said Tobiki. "We're trying to make sure you actually had nothing to do with this. So far, you're not doing a very good job."

Figures. Even when he's dead, he manages to grate on my nerves. I sighed loudly.

"Guys," I said. "I'm not the one behind this, and I'm not too certain who is. I just know that it's not me."

"Nakauchi-san…" Tobiki murmured. "We can't trust that just yet. Just please convince us that you have nothing to do with this…"

I'm trying… but I don't know what to do…

"Guys," I said. "Can we please move the discussion on to another subject? We've been completely ignoring the fact that Irina is still alive, and that she could just be the one pulling all the strings."

"Nya, I was wondering when we'd get to that subject," said Hanneko. "Actually, Irinya has been executed~ She won't be sneaking around anymore, haha!"

What? How? When?!

"I thought that only people that commit crimes would be executed," I said.

"What? And I've never made exceptions for anything?" Hanneko countered. "Actually, you should know this best. I've probably made the most exceptions for you, Nyakauchi!"

He definitely hasn't. But how can we be sure that he's not lying about Irina?

"We need some sort of evidence," said Bunpei. "You can't just tell us that Irina's been executed for no reason, then have us believe you."

"Nyuhuhu," said Hanneko. "I've been wanting to show this one for a while! Here's the video for the Super High School Level Triple Threat's exclusive execution!"

Hanneko pulled the remote back out, then proceeded to point upward (again). The screen now displayed an image of Irina in a room saturated in red light. The words "BROKEN HEART EXPLOSION" ran across the bottom of the screen. The feed then focused on several random items in the room with Irina. Among them was a welding mask and tank, a bin filled with wet cement, and duct tape.

"In this one, she has to stop the red light from breaking. It's actually filled with experimental and deadly (andpossiblyillegallyobtained) electroluminescent fluids! Enough to drown a person," said Hanneko excitedly. For a while, Irina sat still. We could see the shadows from the cracks forming across the room, slowly becoming more numerous.

"Why isn't she doing anything?" Tobiki asked.

It's because she's given up. You could tell from her expression that she had finished caring about anything that might have mattered to her…

_Is this what despair feels like?_

That phrase that was written under the photo in her locker suddenly made its way into my mind.

When I looked back at the screen, I saw that Irina had started to say something, though I couldn't tell what.

"Goodbye, Rin," Hanneko said as he watched the screen. Is that what she said?

"AAAAGH!" Bunpei yelled, just as one of the cracks had given way to the strange fluid. "Pause the tape! We believe you! _I can't take this anymore!_"

"Nya, fine," said Hanneko as he paused the execution. "What's got you so worked up?"

"I just… I can't forgive this!" Bunpei exclaimed. "Somebody has taken advantage of Irina's feelings! No matter who the girl is or what she's done, I can't forgive someone who'd betray the one that loves them!"

"Oh, really? We've got ourselves a warrior of love and justice here!" Hanneko joked.

"Furuda-kun, please stop being embarrassing," groaned Tobiki.

"Fo real tho," said Hanneko. "You guys are representing New Hope's Peak on an international scale!"

"What's up with all these vague references to people watching us?" I asked.

"Nya, if you haven't figured out by now, there's no way I'm explaining," mewed Hanneko.

"Ugh," Bunpei groaned. "Let's get back on topic…"

"Wait a second," I said. "How do we know that the person in this video is actually Irina?"

"What ever could you mean, Rin-chan?" Hanneko asked. Wait. Why did I say that? There's no way… Plus, Hanneko could just use this to push more of the blame on me.

"He's right," said Bunpei. "If that's not Irina, then who is it?"

… "Never mind," I said. "It's unlikely that it's anyone else… But something's still very off about this…"

"It couldn't be anyone but her," said Tobiki. "Now, we should move on to the next matter."

"Nyehehe," giggled Hanneko. "Everyone's favorite anklebiter seems to be more serious than ever."

"Yeah," I said. "It's probably because he's as fed up with your bullshit as the rest of us."

"More than you guys, I'm willing to bet," said Hanneko. "Since this thing started, he's been fostering a deep hatred for the one behind this, and he's had the least patience with some of the others. Haven't you, his last two friends, noticed this?"

"Of course we have," said Bunpei. "And that's one of the reasons why we've vowed to take you down! In order to avenge him and all the other friends that died because of this!"

"Yeah, maybe you should stop the pretty speech and get back to the trial if you're so serious about doing that," said Hanneko. He's kinda got a point.

"Fine," said Bunpei. "I still have a question for Ri—I mean, Nakauchi."

"Sure thing," said Hanneko. Why would he say that?

"If you're really not the Super High School Level Good Luck, then why are you here?"

Why am I here? That's because I'm a Hope's Peak student… isn't it?

"Because I'm as much a victim here as you," I said. "Why would I put myself through all of this? I didn't ever want anyone to die…"

"Are you sure?" Tobiki asked. "There were times when you seemed to be enjoying yourself the most here… Isn't it possible that you did all this for kicks?"

What kind of person does he take me for?

"Nakauchi," said Bunpei. "We found pictures that we all took as a class. You're not in any of them."

Bunpei reached into another pocket and pulled out a set of pictures that he had. All of them featured everyone that was alive at some point here, including a few faces I didn't recognize. Among them was a girl with long, brown hair that covered much of her face… It was hard to tell, but that might be the girl that Tougo and Ichigo were with in that picture… Like he said, someone that looks like me is nowhere in sight… But that still seems wrong… I was part of Class Eighty… I'm certain of that… But why am I not in _any_ of these? There's at least fifteen pictures here…

"Bunpei… Tobiki… What are you guys trying to do?" I tried to hold back tears here, but I managed to let go of the pictures. I didn't get any kind of response.

"What has you guys so convinced that I'm the one behind this?" I finally decided to ask.

After a brief silent period, Bunpei decided to answer me.

"Rin-chama…" He went back to using his old nickname for me… "Lately, you've been acting suspicious, but even from the beginning, you've been hiding things from us."

"Like your gender, for one," said Tobiki. "Also, the fact that you've been trying to separate from us lately, as well as the existence of 'Ryoko.' Now that we know you're a girl, it makes more sense."

"How does it make more sense?" I challenged. What does me being a girl have to do with anything?

"Ryoko… Is that your real name?" Tobiki looked directly at me.

"Of course not!" I yelled.

"Prove it," said Bunpei. "Wasn't the list of names on the roster crossed out because it had your real name in it?"

Of course not… If there's nothing else that I've ever known in this place, it's that my name's "Rin Nakauchi." But…

"Also," said Tobiki. "Hanai-kun told us a secret. Something that only he should have known, but we know that you know what it is."

How the fuck should I know what it is?

"Hanai-kun has a younger sister who happens to favor Irina Esperanza," said Tobiki. "We could tell that you were trying not to bring her up earlier, when we were discussing the Broken Heart Explosion execution."

I guess I did know that… Wait…

"I'm not the only person that knew about Ichigo," I said. "Nezumi, Ido-san, and Sugihara-kun also knew about her, and that's just the people I'm certain of."

"Knew about who?" Bunpei asked. "Who's Ichigo?"

"You don't need to push further, Furuda-kun," said Tobiki. "Nakauchi-san, how did you know Tougo's younger sister's name?"

"He told me about her," I said immediately. It was only a moment later that I realized how I should have kept my mouth shut.

"True," said Tobiki. "He has mentioned having a younger sister in the past. But he confirmed with us that he never once mentioned her by name when he was here."

Yeah, he did… when we were in the newest building… We started talking about her…

_"I need to make sure my sisters and parents are okay."_

_"Oh, yeah, you did mention Ichigo before."_

SHIT! He never told me her name. No wonder!

"Guys," I said. "I'm not the one behind this."

"We want to believe you," said Bunpei. "But you haven't proven any of us wrong…"

"Nyalright," said Hanneko. "You fuckers ready to finish this trial?"

"No…" said Bunpei as he looked down at the floor.

"Too bad, I'm gettin' bored, and this update's already past three-thousand words long," retorted Hanneko. "Remember, kids; if you nominate someone living, they will face execution. You sure you're done?"

"Let's just get this over with," I said. Maybe these guys will trust me and nominate someone dead instead…

Someone dead… That building… there are still questions that we haven't had answered…

"Rin-chan?" Hanneko called me by that name. "You still need to place your vote, darling~"

I hadn't realized that I zoned out. Bunpei, Tobiki, and Hanneko were all staring at me…

Quickly, I pressed the button marked "Tougo Hanai." I'm not sure I even know what's going on anymore, but it seemed like a decent form of revenge at the time. Maybe in the afterlife, he could see that I completely distrusted him. Maybe it'd offend him. Why the hell am I still thinking about that guy?

"Aaaaaaaaaand…" Hanneko stretched out the word for a sort of dramatic effect. "The person slated to be executed today iiiiiiiiiisss… Rin Nyakauchi-chan! That's right, folks! In a twisted form of irony, the one that's helped keep all these bastards alive (to an extent) is the one being eliminated on the basis that she caused all of this to happen in the first place!"

"Sorry…" Tobiki whispered. He refused to look at me…

"Rin-chama…" This came from Bunpei. "Will you confess now? Are you the mastermind?"

"Of course not," I mumbled, my voice quivering. "I wanted to help us figure out who was behind this the entire time… Are you guys forgetting what happened in the first trial?"

"I remember that trial all too well," said Tobiki. "But I wasn't sure if I still trusted the passion in that outburst…"

"Guys…" I whispered sadly. I guess this is it. I know I had something to do with this… But still, everything about this trial feels wrong… I can't honestly say that I'm the mastermind… But I can't tell who is… Or maybe was…

"Hanneko," said Bunpei. "Can I please leave? I'm not sure that I want to watch this…"

"Aw," said Hanneko. "Feeling guilty about sending one of your friends to her death? Even if she might have caused all of the misfortune you guys have faced? Aren't you even going to do some big sappy group hug and cry like a bunch of losers?"

"There's no time for that," said Bunpei.

"Oh?" Hanneko asked. "You're not even going to do that? Even though you did it with Hanyai? Nyahaha, I guess it makes sense for the Super High School Level Athlete to play for more than one team!"

"Please just let me leave," Bunpei stated firmly.

"Heh, fine, since it's the last trial. Wouldn't want you to feel this guilt for the rest of your miserable life, would we? Step on the crest, kid," Hanneko said as he looked at Tobiki. "You wanna go up, too, kid?"

"No," Tobiki replied. "I need to talk to Nakauchi-san."

"Ohoho?" Hanneko laughed as he sent Bunpei back to the gym. "Will this be the long-awaited painful love confession that we've all been waiting for?"

Tobiki sighed, then turned to face me. "You were right about a couple of things," he said. "Hanai-kun gave us all the information he had about what might have been going on. He had a lot of notes about you."

Of course he did.

"But he managed to gamble enough that he wound up losing his life. He told us where everything was when he mentioned the 'final chapters' before his execution."

_That's_ how he was able to let them know about what he found! I can't believe I didn't catch on to that. No, I _should have_ caught on to that.

"Did you know that he even predicted that you'd try to steal the notes he had?"

"Yeah," I interrupted him. "I knew all too well. But why are you telling me this?"

"I just thought you'd like to know," said Tobiki as he put his hand on my shoulder. Has he gotten taller?

"We trusted him," said Tobiki. "But we also trusted you. Of course, we'd be conflicted. To be honest, he might have been the most conflicted."

"I still don't see the point to this," I stated. Tobiki sighed.

"You will soon," he replied with a smile. It was similar to the smile he had given me the first day, but it seems to have lost some of its happy innocence…

"Even if it wasn't their talent," Tobiki continued. "This class seems to have a lot of gamblers. Goodbye, Nakauchi-san." Tobiki let go of my shoulder, then went back to his desk-podium. What surprised me the most was that he started praying. I wondered who he was praying for…

"Tobiki," I said, interrupting his prayer. "I have a confession to make. I think I might have had something to do with this."

"We know," responded Tobiki. "We still trust you. Hanai-kun also trusted you. Nezumi did, too. Everyone, at some point, has put their trust in you. Just don't break that trust further."

They still trust me? Then why would they vote to execute me? I sighed. Well, I trust them, too. I hope they know this…

"Thank yo—ACK!" I began to thank them for trusting me, for being my friends, but I suddenly felt a heavy weight around my waist that was pulling me backwards.

"That took too loooooooong," Hanneko's voice echoed as I found myself being dragged through those familiar doors to my doom.

* * *

><p>It's dim here. I found myself facing a covered body in a well-decorated house. There's electric police tape blocking every possible exit, and I'm surrounded by… other people? Once I turned around, I realized who they were. There were five other people in this room with me, and each one looked like older versions of my classmates. Specifically, they looked like the ones that had killed someone else and been punished for it…<p>

I recognize this kind of scene. Everyone here was dressed for some sort of profession (or lack thereof), and they were all looking around the room and pleading their cases. This is exactly like a whodunit. I guess I have to solve this case?

I decided to examine the body, but the only thing I found when I pulled back the cover was a folded note.

"LOOK BEHIND YOU," it said in bright pink letters. In shock, I turned to face a gray form carrying a blunt weapon above its head as if it were prepared to swing in downward. The last thing I remember seeing is the bat just inches away from my face. After that, everything went dark.

Huh. Is this what death feels like? It's strange. I didn't even feel any sort of pain. I also don't really feel lighter. It's almost as if I haven't changed at all….


	33. Chapter Six: Le Desespoir

**:D Hello, and Happy New Year! Sorry for the lack of updates, but it's been kinda hard to write on this lately. It's like this story was some horrifying journey that I didn't want to end so soon, so I've been putting it off :/. Anyway, the journey will come to an end soon (maybe even on January 7th, hehe ^^). I remember about a year ago around this day, the characters and basic plot were conceived, so I wanted to publish a chapter around this time. It's sort of an almost-ending to commemorate the anniversary of the almost-beginning of the story (plus, I don't think this thing has ever updated on a Thursday, so there's that). Thinking now, a year and 33 updates later, it really shows how much time I've wasted TT-TT But, I hope you enjoy the upcoming finale! Thanks again for reading and interacting with my first story! :D**

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes… I think. It's completely dark, so I can't tell where I am or if my eyes were actually open. Not sure what I expected, but I didn't think the afterlife would be so boring.<p>

I felt my forehead. Despite the circumstances, I didn't have any kind of headaches or pain. In fact, it almost feels like nothing happened…

"… Ri…ama…"

Huh? That almost sounds like…

"Rin-chama!" That unmistakable nickname…

"Furuda-kun?" I asked incredulously. "Where are you?"

"Hehe, I wish I knew," he called. I tried to follow his voice to no avail.

"Anyway, now that you're trapped in the darkness," I said, ignoring the fact that I was also trapped in figurative and literal darkness, "What exactly is going on? And is it safe to assume that I'm not dead?"

"That's…. A bit of a long story," Bunpei replied. "And you're not dead, thank goodness! Seems like I made it just in time."

"Pfft," I said. "And give me the short version."

Bunpei hummed, seeming to be in thought. "Okay! Hanai-kun gave us hints about where to find those notes and stuff that he had, but all of it said that you were the mastermind. You knew things that someone without memory shouldn't have known, Hanneko seemed to be intent in keeping you around, and—these are Hanai-kun's words, not mine—it didn't make sense that someone so mediocre and idiotic could figure out as much as you did."

Wow. Even while he's not around, that bastard manages to piss me off.

"But," Bunpei continued, "That didn't line up with what we knew about you, then we realized that we didn't really know much about you to begin with. Even so, Tobi and I still had our doubts… For the most part, anyway. He told us about the office, and that if there was a desperate situation, one of us would have to go there. We went to see what was up before, but we couldn't find anything that'd help us get out or let us know who's behind this. Still, we did find something interesting…"

Bunpei paused. I didn't know if it was for dramatic effect, or he was waiting for me to process everything, but I wound up asking him anyway.

"What did you find?" I asked, pretending to sound curious.

"We found a button labeled 'SHUT DOWN'," he answered. "I had no idea what it was for, but I had a hunch that it'd come in handy. Actually, a few of the buttons were labeled the same way, but I kinda guessed which one we'd need. And I was right!"

I could hear the feeling of triumph in Bunpei's voice. He's definitely changed since this hellish school session started.

"So, why did you try to save me right after you threw me under the bus?" I asked accusatorily.

"Well…" Bunpei began his answer. "Even though Hanai-kun seemed so certain that you were behind everything, I didn't want to believe him. To be honest, it didn't seem like he wanted to believe himself, either…"

Huh? "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"One final note read 'Try to confirm as much as possible with Hanneko without looking suspicious'," said Bunpei. "… Or something like that."

I don't see how that would have helped, but Bunpei finished before I could speak up.

"But… Tobi and I also made a deal with Hanneko," said Bunpei. "Hanneko agreed that the mastermind would definitely confess if his identity were found out. Since you didn't confess, we assumed that you hadn't heard about this deal. But if you were the one controlling Hanneko, why wouldn't you know about that?"

"Still," I said. "I could have been lying the whole time."

"Heeeeh, I considered that," Bunpei stated. "Even so, you were too cornered for there to be no point in confessing. But somehow, despite that, I still thought you were innocent!"

"Are you an idiot?!" I yelled, even though I didn't mean to say that aloud. "I mean, you could be rescuing a dangerous criminal."

"Stop playing the devil's advocate, Rin-chama," said Bunpei. "Tobi and I considered all of that. We also considered the fact that you're still one of our closest friends, and even when we thought you might have been behind this, we still trusted you even if it was just a tiny bit."

Wow. These two really are a couple of idiots. Putting your faith in something as simple as trust? These guys… After all that we've learned about what I may have done, they have absolutely no reason to trust me… Before I knew it, my knees had hit the ground. The stinging in my eyes was the only indication that I was crying.

"Rin-chama?" Bunpei asked.

"This… it's all my fault… Why did you come back here?" I whispered. Somehow, he still managed to hear me.

"Nobody wanted you gone," said Bunpei. "And since you're not the true mastermind, it's not really your fault… Although, from what I'm hearing, you've kinda been pushing it…"

"I thought you weren't one for sappy bullshit, Rin-chan," announced the most irksome voice in existence over some sort of loudspeaker. Amazingly, it managed to snap me out of my crying.

"FUCK OFF!" I yelled.

"Nyuhuhu," said Hanneko. "I would, but thanks to a couple of clever bastards, it seems that there's a need for a retrial."

Ugh. Suddenly, a light source appeared. The only thing in its way was a stretched-out feline shadow. Hanneko walked further into the room, which was now completely illuminated by light. It only seems to be a large gray room with cement flooring and cinderblock walls. Bunpei was only about ten feet away from me.

"What is this place?" I asked when we were within sight of each other.

"Obviously this is the execution chamber! See? The courtroom is right through those doors," said Hanneko. "Every execution in this game took place here."

That seemed kinda odd. How would he be able to change how this place looked each time? From yesterday, three planned executions occurred, so he'd've had to have changed it three times… I'm wasting too much time thinking about this.

"Anyway," said Hanneko, "come with me. You assholes seemed to want to drag the trial on, so we'll do just that!"

"Like hell we will!" I yelled. Hanneko sighed.

"Well, I would have liked to do this the easy way, but it looks like I might have to force you." With that, Hanneko snapped his digits somehow and paused. After a few seconds, the floor started rumbling.

"W-w-w-hat's-ts-ts h-h-hap-p-p-pening-g-g?!" Bunpei asked, unable to clearly speak and maintain his balance at the same time. Hanneko ignored his question.

"Follow me if you don't want to be crushed by this room!" Hanneko stated as he went toward the doors he entered. I ran over to Bunpei and grabbed his hand, pulling him with me toward Hanneko.

Once we closed the doors, and after hearing a startling crash, Bunpei and I looked around for Tobiki and Hanneko. Hanneko had once again resumed his position upon his throne, and Tobiki was back at his podium.

"You guys! Thank goodness," said Tobiki. We ran over to talk to him, but when we passed our respective podia, we were somehow pulled to them, and unable to pull away.

"What the…" I said as I tried to push myself away. Hanneko laughed.

"You little shit!" Bunpei yelled at him. "What did you do to us?!"

" 'What didn't I do' might be a better question at this point," Hanneko mewed. "But those Hope's Peak crests sewn into your jackets aren't the ones the school gave you. Nope, the ones you're wearing are made out of a highly magnetic steel alloy. Trying to pull away once the electromagnet's been activated is kinda futile."

"... I apologize for not warning you guys earlier," Tobiki murmured sadly. "I found myself unable to move as well…"

"It's fine, Tobi," said Bunpei. "We just gotta finish this trial to escape, right? There's kinda nothing you coulda done about it…"

"Oh! Thanks for the segue," said Hanneko. "It's time for a super special retrial! Same rules apply, except if you get it wrong, I'll save myself some time and have you all killed."

"WHAT?!" We all yelled in unison, even though it was kinda not really surprising.

"Yeah, whatever, now finish the discussion!" Hanneko exclaimed. "I'll join in when I feel like it."

"Well… It kinda looks like we don't have much of a choice now, do we?" Bunpei stated.

"Wait," I said. "Why don't we just take off our jackets?"

"…That reminds me," said Hanneko. He snapped again, and warned us to stand close to our podia. With that, the floor started rumbling again. I tried to run again (like an idiot), but the floor surrounding the podia lowered, causing us to stay put.

"Now you can't escape until we're done~" Hanneko sang. Bunpei screamed.

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!" He yelled as held on to the podium.

"It surely doesn't!" Hanneko responded. "And you bastards can discuss why in this retrial! Maybe if you're good, I'll bring the floor back up!"

I sighed. "Well, guys, we really don't have a choice, so let's try to continue our discussion from earlier," I said, trying to sound calm.

"Okay…" Tobiki agreed somewhat reluctantly. Bunpei gave a faint "yeeeaahhh."

"For starters, let's try going back over everything we know," I said.

"Wait," said Bunpei. "We should start by making sure we'll all be completely honest with each other."

Hmph. I see where he's going with this. After all, those two are looking directly at me, waiting for my response.

"Fine," I said. "I'll come clean about everything I can. Ever since our first week here, I've been having strangely vivid and memorable dreams. Most of them seemed to take place in a school setting, except for the first and last ones. I don't want to think about it, but all of them seem to indicate that I played an instrumental role in orchestrating this disaster. Including the evidence that you guys found, it'd be hard for me to lie and say that I'm just as innocent as you two."

"Nya, don't forget the memories that are still coming back!" Hanneko called from his throne. Huh? He's right. But… How did he know about all this?

"Wondering how I knew about your situation?" Hanneko asked. "Obviously because I'm the the nyan who tricked you into getting your memories back! That button that dear Irina-chan had you press wasn't one to open the doors."

"You kinda don't need to tell me that now," I said. I knew the button was a trick, but I wasn't too certain about the other memories.

"Anyway," he continued, "When you pressed that button, you felt a shock, right? That was the special secret serum I made being injected into you!"

"Then… You were getting desperate," I said. "Were you trying to get me on your side so badly, you had my memories somehow return?"

"Wait a second, Nakauchi-san," Tobiki interrupted. "How would it have been possible for Hanneko to do this? You said that you've been having memories since we came here, but that video in which you were injected is recent."

"Ara! We've got a smart cookie here," Hanneko said.

Tobiki's right. But… Is it possible that Hanneko's been injecting that serum into me from the beginning?

"For the record," Hanneko began, "I only had two samples of the serum. It's not potent enough unless it's in a certain dose, and I only prepared one for Rin-chan, and an extra one just in case I'd need it."

"Whoa," Bunpei said. "Now that I think about it, the mastermind's pretty smart. Preparing everything in advance… He probably predicted that it'd all come to this."

"Isn't that kinda obvious?" Tobiki asked.

"We're getting off track," I reminded them. Still, Hanneko does have this tied up in a neat little bow. Why would he unravel it at this point? That part still doesn't make any sense.

"Nyahaha! If you collected one-thousand Monocoins, you can buy an extra hint," Hanneko announced. The fuck are Monocoins?

"Oh, wait," he continued. "Wrong media~ I'll just tell you guys anyway. The memories Rin-chan has are connected to certain other things about the school!"

Certain other things? Just what is that supposed to mean? Is there something we've glossed over?

"Actually," Bunpei began, "there are too many strange things to ignore. I'm sure you guys have also noticed something, right?"

In a general sense, he's right. But even for this place, several things have been out of the ordinary. I couldn't help but remember the classmates I encountered in the Future Foundation Building. We saw them executed, but their bodies were there… What if we skipped over other bodies on the second floor?

"I can vouch for the fact that the Future Foundation Building is strange in itself," I said. "Even the rooms we were trapped in. Remember how we were almost forced to solve riddles soon, or we'd come close to dying some horrible way? I could have sworn that I almost drowned, but when I was outside a few minutes later, I was completely dry."

"Nakauchi-san," Tobiki interjected, "I'm not too sure, but I think that might also be connected to the garden in the Research Building."

"Huh? How?" Bunpei asked.

"I see what he means," I said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that it was possible to leave the school from there since it's so sunny. But I realized that it was probably a clever trick on my… senses…"

Wait just a gosh darned minute. Hanneko already offered an explanation as to why things happened the way they did.

"The simulation thing!" Tobiki exclaimed.

"As expected of Wakabayashi-kun!" I cheered. "Hanneko! Before Yanaihara-kun's trial, you explained that we were all mentally stuck in a video game at that place."

"Huh? Yeah, that's right," Hanneko confirmed. "Took you bastards long enough to bring that back up! Jeez, you think the story would focus more on such a crucial detail."

"There have been other, more pressing matters," noted Bunpei, though I'm not sure I completely agreed with him. I can't believe we kept glossing over such an influential piece of information!

"OH! That would explain how Hanneko is able to change the courtroom so easily," Tobiki realized. It would, indeed.

"It also explains why no one had any scars or anything from the rooms we were stuck in, either," I added.

"Then…" Bunpei joined in. "… Wouldn't it also explain why Hanneko is able to create such elaborate executions?"

Yes, it would…. Somehow, I was stuck on what Tobiki said about the courtroom. It was different every time, but one difference in Ko's trial should have stuck out.

"Furuda-kun," I began. "How many podia are there in here right now?"

"Hm? Hmm…" I could see Bunpei counting each black and white picture with his eyes.

"…There are seventeen," he said. I was able to tell the exact moment when realization struck.

"Hanneko! How many podiums were there when this thing started?" Bunpei inquired commandingly. For once, Hanneko seemed startled.

"… It seems you've figured it out," he said as if giving up something. "Suginyara-kun pointed out that there were sixteen of them on the first day, so I guess it would make sense that you guys would eventually grow a couple of brain cells."

Wow, rude. "Anyway," I continued, "we already know that the simulation is in effect here, in the execution chamber, in the theater and surrounding areas, and in the rooms of the Future Foundation Building. That doesn't mean those are the only places that have been affected."

"Right," said Tobiki. "If what Hanneko said about your memories is true, then even our rooms might be affected."

Uh… What? "Explain," I said.

"I got this~" Hanneko mewed. "Anklebiter-kun is completely right! The best way to mess around with your brains is when you guys are asleep, so the easiest way for me to do that would be to mess with your rooms~"

This kind of thing doesn't even shock me anymore. In fact, a less plausible explanation like "Hanneko is the leader of an alien race that abducts us each night and picks apart our brains" would make just as much sense.

"Then… This explains the meaning behind the third hint," Bunpei added. Not everything is as it seems… It could also mean that the mastermind is a "dead" student, but that's kinda given at this point.

"But…" I whispered as I placed my hands on Tougo's glasses. "If this room is under an advanced neurosimulation…" I tossed the pair of glasses on the floor behind me. Half expecting to be wrong, I waited until I could hear the sound of plastic frames hitting the ground. I didn't expect to hear it half a second later.

Hanneko was already looking directly at me when I turned to glare at him.

"… Okay, you caught me," Hanneko conceded. "The floor lowering thing was also due to the simulation… Nya, you guys are doing better than I expected. I thought I'd have to lead this discussion."

"Don't insult us," Tobiki remarked.

"Yeah!" Bunpei added. "But still… Sorry to bring this back up, but Rin-chama, we still need to know everything you know. We need to make sure you're completely on our side."

"Oh, so almost being executed wasn't enough?" I snapped at him. I probably shouldn't have, but damn. You'd think someone who was almost put in a coma could get at least a little more sympathy.

Coma… I guess that was part of the plan, huh… I won't bring it up now, though. The me in this moment hasn't confirmed anything about that yet.

"Now's not the time for flippancy," Bunpei countered. Hmph. I'm not sure I ever pictured myself being scolded by him.

"… Fine," I said. "According to the information I've been given, I might have had something to do with this going as far back as the first day of school. All I ever remember is being given assignments to fulfill, though they seemed to have a lot to do with finding out personal information about everyone. As far as the person who gave me the assignments, I still don't know. In my memories, I only ever saw them as one of the students in our year. They were only ever called 'Dayzayspwa' or something like that, and I'm not sure if they actually had a talent..."

"So you've gathered information on all of us?" Tobiki asked. I think I see where this is going…

"I might still have them… Maybe…"

"Nyah," mewed Hanneko. "I've got them with me right here." He then pulled them from underneath his throne and brought them to me. Now didn't seem appropriate to tell him "thanks."

"Uh… I kinda can't bring it ti them," I said.

"Nyeah you can," Hanneko responded. "The magnet's been off for a little while now. It's kinda pointless since you guys can't escape either way."

"Okay then," I said as I walked toward the other two. "I was given these, and I found the other files around 1:30 earlier—"

"1:30? Are you sure about that time, Rin-chama?" Bunpei sounded suspicious for some reason. What could I possibly gain from lying about the time?

"Uh… Yeah?"

"But... That seems wrong somehow," Tobiki added. "Hanneko came to us with the pictures of our classmates at 1:30…"

"Hm… Rin-chama, how often did you see Hanneko when we were trapped in those rooms?" Bunpei asked me.

"Too often," I replied. "He was basically there every other minute."

"He was in our room frequently as well," Tobiki acknowledged. "I'm not sure about every other minute, but he must have visited the other rooms pretty often as well…"

"Wait a sec," I began. "Those rooms were almost completely sealed off. The door couldn't have ever been opened when we were still in there, and Hanneko never left through any kind of vent. It would have been impossible for him to ever leave…"

"… What if he never left?" Tobiki questioned. Hanneko never left? Hm… Actually, something we already know lines up with that information.

"Furuda-kun," I called out to him. He was looking at one of my handwritten files before he acknowledged me. I'll bet 1,000 yen I know exactly whose file that is.

"Huh? What's up?" I see he still is a bit nonchalant…

"You remember what happened in the trial for the missing girls?" I asked. "When we were talking about how the area outside the kitchen was clean?" I think Hanneko revealed an interesting piece of information, and I wanted to make sure I didn't have it wrong.

"What? You mean about the cleaning team… OH!" Bingo!

"Ah, that's right!" Tobiki chimed in. "Hanneko said that he had more copies of himself to handle tasks like that."

"Exactly," I confirmed. "We never established just how many Hanneko clones there were. They could number in the thousands…"

Almost simultaneously, we turned to look at Hanneko for an answer. He seemed to be becoming more nervous…

"Nyalright," he gave in. "Besides my cleaning team, there's one Hanneko for almost every room and hallway in this school. That way, none of them have to leave and be replaced in their original spots. I had them hidden away super well~"

I'm not sure why, but this felt good. It feels like we're closer to regaining our freedom! But… Something doesn't add up completely. It feels like there's something I'm forgetting that contradicts that…

"YEAH!" Bunpei shouted. "ONE STEP CLOSER!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, buddy," Hanneko put in. "There are still several riddles that you guys haven't solved~"

Riddles? Does he mean those hints? Well, we kinda didn't go over all of them…

"Hey, guys," I muttered. "We still have those hints. We might be able to figure out more if we learn what they mean."

"Yeah," Tobiki added. "We're still not sure that we found proper answers to all of them…"

"Well, we must've solved some of them," Bunpei claimed. "Like this first one about there only being seventeen students. That most likely means Luka's been a student the entire time, and he's just been hidden from us."

"You're right," Tobiki said. "But I think the purpose of that hint was to say that the person behind this is a student. They couldn't do much if they weren't in here to begin with…."

I thought about the cameras and realized that there's a chance of that not being true, but I didn't disagree with Tobiki, so bringing that up might have just derailed our argument…

"Yeah," I mumbled. "I'm not sure if this is too relevant, but my guess is that Luka was hidden in the Future Foundation Building since it looks like it's the only other building with bedrooms…"

"That makes enough sense," Tobiki admitted.

"That's because it's true," Hanneko stated. "Believe it or not, he was more annoying in there than when he was with you bastards! Always trying to snoop around somewhere, constantly asking me 'Where is she? Where is she?' Fooey, I wound up having to put him through his memory removal twice. It's a good thing he died when he did, otherwise he might have ruined the game."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Tobiki yelled. For some reason, this seemed more terrifying coming from him.

"Stop treating tragedy like it's some sort of joke," he roared.

"Wow, was that guy's betrayal really that traumatizing?" Hanneko teased. No one mentioned Kenzo at all, and I'm sure none of us appreciated how Hanneko treated the subject.

"Jeez, it's just issue after issue with you bastards," he continued. "We shoulda had that therapist guy from that copycat school come here."

"The hell are you talkin' about?" I asked.

"Hehe, nothin', Rin-chan," he responded. Ugh.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand," Bunpei nagged. "If Luka was hidden away, doesn't that make him suspicious?"

"Not quite," I said. "You still have my handwritten files, right? I think he's listed as a possible mole. My guess would be that a mole and a mastermind wouldn't be the same person."

"You never truly know, Rinnie," Hanneko chimed in. "But you're right in this case. I remember going over those notes with you like we were two diabolical criminal masterminds~ Ah, how nyastalgic!"

"Please shut up," I said. "But that kinda proves it. Actually, we should probably go over who couldn't possibly have done it."

"Logically, anyone that's died couldn't possibly have done it," said Bunpei. "But I guess some of our suspects have been thrown out of the window…"

"Yeah. Irina has been executed, Luka was sort of only introduced to cause issues amongst ourselves, and Glasses…" What should I have said about him? That I trusted him? Pfft, unlikely. But he still didn't seem like the one to have caused this mess… He certainly wouldn't have let himself be executed, either…

"Just a gut feeling?" Tobiki asked. I guess those might be the words for it.

"Also, we're certain at least two out of three of us isn't the brains behind this operation," Bunpei noted. Hmph. He could at least trust me a little more. I guess I don't really deserve it, though…

"Three out of three," Hanneko said. "It should be kinda obvious by now that it isn't Rin-chan."

I'm not sure if I should consider that to be reassuring. Clearly the other two felt the same way….

"… Well enough," said Tobiki. "Then, is the other hint about the fake student referring to Nakauchi-san?"

"Come on, midget," Hanneko chided. "I'm not just gonna confirm anythin' without some sort of discussion. You really should know better."

"… Well, we know that Nakauchi-san's talent as we know it is made up," said Tobiki.

"Yeah," said Bunpei. "Plus, she's not in any of the class pictures you handed to us, nor is she on our class's roster. Statistically, that's very unlikely."

"But I was part of this class," I argued. I don't really have much of a basis for it, though. It's starting to seem more and more like maybe I wasn't one of them to begin with….

"Wait a second, Furuda-kun," I gasped. "You've got that wrong!"

"Huh? How?" He should know by now that know-it-all attitudes don't ever help in situations like this. Off the top of my head, I could already think of two people.

"Let me see those pictures," I commanded. Hesitantly, he gave them to me.

"In most of these images, there's a mysterious brown-haired girl," I began. "I'm going to go by the assumption that she's not a ghost, and that these pictures are not doctored."

"Both of which would be true," said Hanneko. "This school building isn't old enough for those kinds of urban legends."

"Right," I said. "Now that you're in on this discussion, Hanneko, when were these pictures taken?"

"NYAHO!" Hanneko exclaimed. "Uh… Well, most of them are from your first winter break up until about a few weeks before you bastards were brought here."

"Hu," I exhaled. "Guys. I think the girl in these photos might be me."

The two guys' eyes widened as if they had finally found the last few pieces of a puzzle.

"Now that you mention it…" Bunpei began. "This girl's hair _is_ the same color as yours. Plus, some pictures show it longer than in others. The ones where it's shorter must be from earlier on in our school session…"

"Plus… Their face shapes are kinda similar… But it's hard to tell who it could be if we didn't already have the answer," Tobiki added. Wow, we're all a bunch of idiots.

"You're right!" Hanneko said. "This totally creepy girl is Rin-chan! I'm amazed at the fact that you didn't recognize your own face, though. I didn't think you were that stupid."

"You shut it!" I yelled. "Besides, I haven't looked in a mirror since… Well, that's besides the point. I kinda never needed to, anyway."

"You mean you didn't have one in your room?" Tobiki asked. Actually… I didn't.

"Anyway, I think this discussion is done," I said.

"Not quite," Bunpei argued. "This doesn't explain the crossed-out names in the roster!"

"That was clearly done to mess with us," I said. "Anyone whose name is gone would be suspicious."

"… You have a point," Bunpei admitted. "Then… Does that mean the hint about the fake student is untrue?"

"It's inconsistent, but it looks like that might be the case," said Tobiki. Something about that still seems off…

"Well, we can get back to that after we discuss things further," I said. "There're still two more hints to discuss…"

"That every person in the game except one started the game with no memories of the past year and a half," Bunpei mumbled. "Then, doesn't that mean that this hint is about Rin-chama?"

"Not quite," I said. "I only started getting my memories back after this game started. The only person who could have known everything from the beginning would have to be the mastermind."

"But Hanneko mentioned Luka having his memories," Tobiki added. Yeah, he did say that…

"But…" Bunpei began. "If you think about it, Luka didn't start the game until long after we did."

"True, true," said Hanneko. "Plus, Luka-kun didn't have his memories in the beginning, either. It was startling when he started asking about a certain someone."

"Then we've further confirmed what we already knew," said Tobiki. Did I detect a hint of irritation? Probably.

"So, basically, once we figure out who the mastermind is, we'll know who this hint refers to?" I asked. Hanneko snickered.

"Nyuhuhu," he giggled. "You might already now, Rin-chan~ Didn't someone confide something in you?"

Huh? I remembered Irina's creepy fairytale… She must have been talking about people from New Hope's Peak… Then… She sees me as a peasant? Rude.

"Is it about Irina?" I asked.

"That's not right," Tobiki said. "If she had her memories the entire time, she would have been able to tell us what she knew about all of us. Before it would be seen as a problem, she could have told us that she wasn't involved."

"Yeah," I said. "She introduced herself the same way the rest of us did. Even she wasn't sure what she should have called her talent. It wasn't something she'd need to hide, so she could have told us her talent immediately if she knew already."

Yeah… Besides, she only revealed how she felt about me recently. If she knew from the beginning and was the one plotting this, she most likely would have tried to bring me to her side more…

"You've made excellent points," Hanneko complimented us. I'm not sure if that's much better than the insults. "But yeah," he continued. "Irina-chan only got her memories back after she interfered enough amongst you guys~"

After she interfered? She's only been causing problems since around the time of the fourth trial on… When she tampered with evidence… Then before the fifth trial… She was the one to make those exploding cups, wasn't she?

"She has been causing trouble for us since the fourth trial," Tobiki noted. "Especially with that fake suicide note she made…"

"So, it makes sense to say that she only actually got them back recently," I said. Hanneko nodded.

"Then… It's definitely not her as well," Bunpei said. "But wait! She was still alive before the fifth trial."

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Then… We need to discuss how exactly she was able to get out of it," he mentioned. Actually… She would have been breaking a rule, wouldn't she? If she was alive, then she should have been there…

"Furuda-kun, you have an idea about why she was able to get out of it, don't you?" Tobiki asked. He must have been able to tell since Bunpei has that look he normally has when he feels accomplished.

"I most certainly do, Tobi!" Bunpei exclaimed. "The rules clearly state that no one that is alive and well can skip out of a trial, right?" Yeah. We all knew this much.

"Well, what if she was actually there the entire time, even participating in the discussion with us?" Bunpei makes a good point. Now that I think about it, there is a way for her to have been there without actually _being _there. She'd even been revealing to us what she knew!

"Furuda-kun, you're a genius!" I said. I could practically see his nose getting longer.**

"Hehe," he chuckled. "So, it seems like you've reached the same conclusion. Hanneko, in the fifth trial, Irina was being represented by that doll called Monokuma, right?"

"Oh! I wasn't expecting that from you," said Hanneko. "I thought I might have had to walk you guys through that one, but I guess not. Yes, yes, and yes, Irina-chan was using Monokuma as a sort of 'avatar,' if you will."

"So, then everyone that was alive at the time was there in some form," Tobiki acknowledged. "Then, that bear's sudden appearance and disappearance makes more sense…"

"Yep! Monokuma-chan is remote-controlled, so she would have had to have been behind it," Hanneko added. For some reason, I kinda feel like I already knew that…

"So, we know now why Monokuma was there," I said. "Then… If she was behind him, is it possible that one of the other girls was represented by Hanneko?"

"GIKU!" Hanneko choked. Looks like I might me right!

"But Rin-chama…" Bunpei began. "Weren't there two victims in that case?"

"That was never confirmed," I said. "All that was ever told to us was that one body was hidden. Not once was that body referred to as 'dead'."

"It couldn't be! Then…" Tobiki chimed in. "…Would that mean that Caraway-san is the puppetmaster?"

Jay? That didn't sit well with me. She seemed just as innocent as the rest of us… But I guess the fact that the rest of us seemed innocent is reason enough to have doubts…

"I mean," Tobiki continued, "Caraway-san had the resources to pull something like this off. She was an internationally renowned businesswoman. Plus, it was almost impossible to be able to tell exactly what she was thinking, since Japanese isn't her first language. It wouldn't make it hard for her to hide things from us."

"You have a point," said Bunpei, who had gone back to looking at the files. Probably trying to see if there was another hint that could point to her.

But… Jay was trustworthy to me. She always checked in on me when we had that partners thing… Actually, I almost never checked in on her… Plus, she was always close to Irina… It wouldn't have been hard for her to mess her up enough that she'd be consumed by despair…

"AGH!" Bunpei screamed.

"What's wrong? Did you figure something out?" I asked. Bunpei averted his gaze away from mine…

"Well…" He seemed sheepish for once. "In your handwritten notes about Ko-chan, it said that she hung out around a senior named 'Shin Yamabuki' a lot, but this guy is totally scary looking!"

Bunpei showed us a picture of a boy with silvery blue, spiked hair and piercings in his ears, nose, and… Well, there were basically some in many parts of his face. I dunno, but the punk look kinda worked for him. While he wasn't exactly scary, he definitely didn't seem like someone Ko would hang out with…

Tobiki had walked over to Bunpei and slapped the official documents out of his hands. "This isn't the time for that!" Tobiki snapped at him. I didn't want to make Bunpei feel bad, but Tobiki was kinda right. Bunpei's priorities weren't exactly in order. Back to Jay… There was no way for me to prove that she wasn't behind this, even though I knew she wasn't…

"… Back to the current issue," Tobiki pleaded, "Jay also fits the description for the final hint pretty well. Like I said before, she was internationally renowned. Even Yamamoto-san used her products."

"But Jay doesn't have a motive," I bluffed. Although… It makes sense to say she didn't. But that'd be like me saying Neko or somebody did have a motive…

God, I'm a fucking idiot. "Bunpei!" No time for formalities. "Is there anyone in our class that didn't have a file?!"

Bunpei was at the ground picking up the fallen papers. "No," he said. "Actually… I'm not sure… I can't find one that says 'Neko-chan,' though I guess it was kinda obvious that it wasn't her real name… I thought I had it earlier, but it was just a girl from an earlier class that happened to look like her…"

A girl that looked like her? "Bunpei," I began. "Was that girl called Junko Enoshima?"

"… Yeah," he said. "Did you look at her file before?" Realization struck on both guys' faces soon after this. I turned to the one who, understandably, wouldn't be too involved in this part of the discussion…

"Hanneko," I said. "We probably should have realized this much earlier, but the mastermind behind this… It could only have been you! Ryoko Enoshima!"

"Guhya!" Hanneko panicked. "You used that name?! Why?!"

"I only ever accused someone when I used their first and last name," I said. "Plus, there was no way I could have said _Neko-chan Kawaii_ in such a serious tone!"

"K-Kawai-san?" Tobiki asked. I guess "Kawai" wasn't her real last name, either…

"But…" Bunpei added. "Was Neko-chan really the one to pull all of this off? She's kinda the last person I'd expect to do something like this."

"Then she must have done a good fucking job," I said to him. "Give it up, Ryoko!"

"…" Hanneko stayed silent. He did say he'd admit to his identity…. Is the fact that he hasn't said anything supposed to mean that we're wrong? GAAAH! That'd be so embarrassing!

"…" Hanneko remained silent as he stood up on his throne. Without warning, he jumped off from it to the podium directly in front of the throne. However, before he hit the floor, an explosion of white smoke occurred, stinging our eyes and not revealing where he had gone.

"Did-ku- that little shit-ku- run away somewhere?!" I coughed. The other guys coughed in response. Well, I guess it was dumb for me to ask them when they'd seen the same thing I had.

"Nya-NYAA! It seems like he exploded-desu! :O"

The smoke cleared away to reveal a somewhat recognizable girl. Except, in this appearance, her unruly blonde hair was streaked with red and black, and unlike her usual orange hoodie and red shorts, she wore some unusual visual-kei style black, blue, and white getup. Her characteristic kitten hat now had one side colored blue, with the blue side having a scar similar to Hanneko's over its eye. Only one person here could ever look so unashamedly ridiculous.

"TADAAA! Your friendly neighborhood mastermind finally makes her appearance! Huh? Why do I feel like someone's said something like that before? Anyway, did you guys like that trick?! I asked Su-chan to make it up for me, nyahaha! ^ω^"

I wouldn't fucking believe it if I weren't staring directly at her.

"Ryoko Enoshima, the totally beautiful and brilliant mastermind— otherwise known as Neko-chan Kawaii— finally makes her long-awaited debut! XD"

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><p>**I realized how odd this seemed, but Rin's referring to the tengu of Japanese legend. They live in the mountains and have long noses, and for a reason I'm not too sure about, they're associated with boastful people. Kinda like the situations where Super Dangan Ronpa 2's Ibuki Mioda has a sprite with a longer nose… That was probably a horrible explanation…<p>

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><p><strong>So, how many of you guys had it right? XD It was so hard trying not to reveal anything to some of you, but I'd like to shout out to Aki Vermilian for being supportive from the beginning, and to The Gone Angel for leaving an amusing review for every chapter, and to Mike73 for figuring the story out in a very impressive fashion. Also, a shout-out to Mr. CyborgPineappleIsland II, HeroNoMore, isdividedbyzero, Some Stupid Fangirl, and Airihs for just being awesome people! (I kinda want to make one out to everybody, but that might end up getting annoying, so just know that I'm happy to have you as a reader! ^^) Until next week~<strong>


	34. Chapter Six: Bientot

**Hello~ I kinda realized that waiting until I finished the entire final chapter would have taken too long, so I'm just gonna split it into two parts ._. Sorry for the wait! TT-TT**

**PS: DANGANRONPA 3 IS CURRENTLY IN THE WORKS**

**THIS IS NOT A DRILL**

**(I hope you enjoy this story that has now been rendered _completely _irrelevant as opposed to just being irrelevant).**

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><p><em>"Good job! I didn't think you'd be able to solve that case so quickly," said Dayzayspwa to me during one of our planning meetings. By now, I had figured out secrets about my classmates, done extensive research into incoming first years, and organized something Day liked to refer to as a "beta test" for a game, among other tasks. I didn't think much of this, since it gave me something to do. For some reason, I had felt more detached from my other classmates. None of them mattered to me, and I mattered to none of them. Except one… He kept pestering me.<em>

Maybe it's not pestering. Isn't it also possible that he's worried about you?

"_Case?" I asked, ignoring those thoughts. I hadn't mentioned any recent case to Day. How is it possible that Day knew I had solved another one? Unless…_

_I pushed the thoughts out of my head. It didn't make sense for Day to be connected to any of them._

But it did.

"_Hehe!" Day giggled. "Maybe I should nickname you 'Rin-tantei,' since you're so good at this kind of thing. But, that is to be expected, I guess."_

"_I don't like that," I said immediately. I'm not sure why, but it didn't sound nice to me. Day laughed loudly. This should have disturbed the people around us, but there was no one else here… I had realized that I only ever seemed to meet with Day when no one else was around…_

"_Then…" Day paused. "… Can I call you 'Rin-tan'?"_

_It sounded childish, but I didn't oppose it._

"_Then Rin-tan it is~" Day sang while finishing wrapping a brown package. "Now, Rin-tan, I have a few more tasks for you to complete, then we'll be done~"_

"_What is it?" I asked tiredly. Day then handed me the package._

"_I need you to sneak this into the lobby of the student hotel before noon," Day whispered unnecessarily._

"_Why there?" I asked._

"_Tsk, tsk, tsk," Day tutted. "This is necessary for getting our game started. I've already got plans for where we can stay tonight, though."_

"_Huu," I sighed as I held onto the package. I recognize this kind of scene. I'll probably have enough clout to get away with something like this, though. I could play innocent, I thought to myself as I walked to the hotel. _

"_Oh, and make sure to pull the fire alarm. Wouldn't want to lose any players," Day said before walking out of earshot. Makes enough sense._

* * *

><p><em>It is now 12:30. Other students are scrambling around, trying to get out of the way of the mess. The entire building has collapsed. A certain someone walked past me. Here was a chance to ask him. I've had a few suspicions about Day lately.<em>

"_Hey," I said to him. He turned to face me expectantly._

"_What is it?" The boy asked. He would definitely know about something like this._

"_Is there a word in another language called 'dayzayspwa'?" I asked. The boy's eyes grew wide in realization as he grabbed me by the shoulders._

"_Do you have something to do with this?!" The boy yelled at me as he pushed me against a wall. I guess he was trying to keep me from running away._

"_What? Why would I?" I asked back. It wasn't exactly a lie._

"_Hmph," he replied. "You've been acting stranger lately. What's that about?"_

"_That's none of your business," I said as I pushed him away. I found an opening when his grip had slackened._

"_Ichigo's probably going to try to get involved if she finds out, so be sure to keep her out of it," I said before turning away from him. Yeah… Despite it all, she should be safe. This isn't just Day's revenge. It's mine. Against those people at that school. Against my parents. Against this society's forced ideals. I have no reason to take out my anger on Ichigo._

_Despair-filled thoughts swam around in my head. I should have been worried, but I wasn't. After all, there's nothing inherently bad about mental illness._

_I wonder… Would I have said or done the same things if I knew that I'd have to start one last case the next day?_

* * *

><p>… We all stood in shock. I didn't think she'd actually reveal herself like this. One memory… The one I forgot after waking up that time… So, I was involved with this. So was Ryoko, or Neko. Rin-tan… Was that her trying to reveal to me who she was?<p>

"Haaaaaah? (ʃ⌣́,⌣́ƪ) " She sounded shocked. "What? You don't believe it's actually the totally kawaii fangirl? Huh. I wouldn't believe it either. ┗(･ω･;)┛" She messed around with some sort of device. Suddenly, she began pixelating until she became somebody else.

"It'd make more sense for someone like me to have been smart enough to do it, right?" Before us, where Neko once stood, was Kotaka Ido. Her black blazer jacket was now half blue, half white.

"… Ido-san?" Bunpei asked. Kotaka giggled and played around with the device again.

"Or maybe it was me," said a tall, muscular man, one half of his blue gakuran uniform now white. Kenzo Tsukuru? Tobiki gasped as he messed with the remote again. More pixels.

"It might have even been me," said a girl we would have known as Nezumi Muon. Her ensemble now consisted of two oversized mouse ears and drawn-on whiskers. You could probably guess what colors they were. Once more, she played with the device.

"Although…" began a calm, even male voice. His jacket now followed the same pattern as that of the others. His glasses were the only thing that seemed out of place, seeing as he didn't wear them. "It'd make the most sense if it were me, right? Someone who'd be able to pull this off would have to be charismatic, calculating, and clever. Fits, doesn't it? Oh! Wait! It could also have been…"

He… or she… (I don't even know anymore) played around with the device one more time. Before us now was a form that only I'd fully recognize.

"Hehe. Plot twist! What if it was me?!" Ichigo Hanai questioned us. She then turned directly to me.

"Hey, Rin-chan," she said. "It's not completely impossible for it to have been me, right? RIGHT?! HAHAHA!"

"NO!" I shouted. "STOP PLAYING AROUND!"

"Buuuuut, I'm not playing. This is completely serious," she whispered before messing with the remote one last time.

"Just kidding~ ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ " Neko—Ryoko said. She had gone back to her previous ridiculous form. "It _definitely _couldn't have been her. You thought it was someone else, but it was me, Neko! Huh? Why do I feel like someone's said something like that before? Oh, well! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

"Wait," I began. "If you can change what you look like, why are you wearing such a hideous outfit?"

"Hmph," she said. "I know, right? I look like a 'totes original' OC in some shitty fanfiction. I've even got the heterochromia part if you look close enough ╮(︶︿︶)╭," she responded. The hell is she talking about? "BUT! An awesome mastermind needs a dramatic change to go along with a dramatic reveal, right?! RIGHT?! \( ﾟ▽ﾟ )/ "

"… That doesn't make any kind of sense," Bunpei replied. It really didn't…

"No matter, Buns!" Neko responded. "But, but, but! We've got an exam to finish, and an audience to appease. Rin-tan! Can you name all the clues that pointed to me as the orchestrator behind this game?! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) "

Me? Why me?! Because she gave me the most hints or something? For the moment, I ignored the audience comment.

"Well…" I whispered. "First of all, 'Neko-chan Kawaii' is a very obviously bullshit name."

"Ding! That's one! └(＾＾)┐" She said as she held up an index finger.

"Alright…" I said. I could point out the obvious things… "When Hanneko said that he has one clone for each room, and they rarely ever leave. After the first case, you should have been trapped down here, but you managed to find a way out. You claimed it was because you followed Hanneko out, but you couldn't have done that if he doesn't ever leave the room he's in."

"That's another! But there's no way you could have known about that one until this case, so try again! (⇀_⇀)" Neko exclaimed. Huh. Another one?

"That story you told me in our first week here," I said. "The one about your 'friend.' Was that supposed to be me?"

"Hit it right out of the park! (ᗒᗨᗕ)" She yelled as she swung her arms, imitating a baseball player. "After all, we flat-chested girls gotta stick together! ＼(＾∀＾)メ(＾∀＾)ノ"

"This isn't the time for that," I snapped. Even now, I'm not sure why. This earned more chuckles from Neko.

"But wait! There's more!"

"Ugh," I grumbled. What now? Neko laughed.

"Didn't it seem suspicious after I managed to get out of my room in the Future Foundation Building? σ(￣、￣〃) " Neko reminded us of that situation. Now that she mentions it…

"Yeah!" I exclaimed for no real reason. "You said you had to cut away your singed hair, but that fire was most likely not real."

"Hey, Rin-tan. You never know. It might have been the only real one, and the orchestrator could have just been trying to get rid of a certain player (￣_￣)・・・," she said. I suppose that is possible… But something about that seemed off.

"In the time it would take to find and cut your burnt hair," I began, "You could have actually been writing a message for a certain person to find. I didn't check to see if it was wet, but it certainly wasn't there when I passed that way the first time."

Neko gasped. "Good job, you clever little nugget, you, (=^･ω･^=)" she said. "That's right! I guess it's obvious now, but I'm the 'Ryoko-chan' that wrote that message! Actually, can you guys start calling me that now? I really hated the alias 'Neko-chan.' ┐(￣ヘ￣;)┌ "

"Forget whatever your real name is!" Tobiki finally yelled out. "Now that we know who's behind this, we can leave, right?! LET US OUT!"

"Nuh-uh-uh~" Ne—Ryoko cooed. "I thought the rules stated that you had to figure out all the mysteries behind this situation before you could leave. So far, you've only figured out 'who.' There's still the 'what,' 'where,' 'when,' 'why,' and 'how.' Aaaaaand since I'm still technically a living and able student, I get to join the discussion! Consider yourselves lucky, you bastards! \(≧▽≦)/"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Bunpei questioned incredulously. "I just wanna leave!"

"But isn't there someone you want to say goodbye to? (￣▽￣*)ゞ" Ryoko teased him.

"… I… that'd be impossible anyway," Bunpei responded.

"There's no point in arguing," I said. "This lunatic isn't going to let us out until we finish this shitty game."

"True that," Ryoko agreed. "As expected of my lovely assistant!"

"Don't call me that," I said.

"Anyway," she said as she picked up a Hanneko doll and held it. Where the hell did that come from? "We need to move on with this exam. Of course, I could just fail you right here… ( ω ) "

"We're good," Tobiki mumbled in defeat.

"As for what… What could possibly drive me to want to do this?" Ryoko asked us. It almost felt like we were doing some sort of final review for a test…

"Hhmmmmmmm…. I guess it'd be impossible for you to know the full reasons. Even you, Rin-tan. To be honest, I never really explained anything, and you didn't really seem to care. Some 'best friend' you are! 凸(｀ﾛ´)凸 "

"I'm not your friend," I snapped. "In fact, I'm using up a good portion of my self-control to keep myself from clawing your stupid eyes out of your ugly face!"

"Nakauchi-san… You're starting to scare me," Tobiki informed me. I hate this place so much. Suddenly, I felt a tap at my shoulders. I turned around and came face-to-face with Ryoko.

"Then do it, bitch," she sneered. She wasn't lying about the heterochromia thing. Her normally green eyes were now red and blue. It looked pretty stupid. My thoughts about her eyes weren't what were keeping me from taking her up on her offer, though. Actually… I couldn't move at all… She didn't try any more of her injections, so why did I feel frozen on the spot?

"… I thought so," she whispered. "You can't do it. It's because you're too scared of what I might do to you, right? RIGHT?! NYAHAHA! (=^-ω-^=) " She laughed as she walked back to her podium.

"Honestly, though," she began. "What could be worse that what I've already put you all through? For some of you, I've even taken away the love of your life. For some reason, some people seem to think living on without the one you love is pointless. To be honest, I don't understand it. In fact, I believe that as soon as someone falls in love, they should start plotting to kill that person! After all, they'd probably have too much power over you if they knew you loved them."

"…." I'm not sure any of us knew what to say to this.

"But, that's a philosophical lesson for another story," she dismissed her earlier creepy statement. "Let me tell you a story about a certain undeniably beautiful girl! (⌒▽⌒)

One fateful day, one stupid bastard couldn't control his dick, and a poor, beautiful, brilliant girl, some time later, was made to birth a child. She would normally treat anyone she didn't love (who happened to be the sick bastard that took advantage of her) with contempt, but she wholeheartedly loved this child. However, the next day, the child was forgotten by her on a corner of the street. For days, the child cried out, until one nice family decided to take her in. This family happened to be very rich and very powerful, but once the city they took control over was thrown into chaos, they were forced to abandon the poor girl. Luckily for her, a white-haired man found her and left her somewhere she'd be safe—er, safe enough, anyway.

For years, this baby was forced to grow up in seclusion, not knowing what was going on in the outside world. Sometimes, books and DVDs would slide under her door. The only thing she had to keep her company were her thoughts—and sometimes whatever was on television. Most of those thoughts were empty, girly thoughts though, like if there were people like her that were also trapped, if she could set the entire building on fire and free herself, what she'd do to enact revenge on a world that abandoned her. One of those phases, y'know.

In any case, one day several years later, she heard a knocking at her door. She had long since given up hope that she'd be let out, so she was prepared to tell whoever was bothering her to go to hell. Incidentally, the door happened to be unlocked, and she was greeted by the white-haired man that took her to this place. In his hand was a letter for the girl to read. As he handed it to her, she took it, and he fell motionless on the floor. She was uncomfortable with the fact that some dude fell out on her floor, so she just kicked him outside and locked her door back. Someone would come and pick him up eventually.

Inside the letter, the man referenced the little girl as 'Demon Spawn,' and 'an incarnation of despair,' and a whole bunch of other totally rude things. Apparently, this guy claimed that the girl's mother was a horrible person that helped plunge the world into chaos and orchestrated the deaths of thousands of people _directly_. He even went as far as to tell everything he knew about all of her plans. You may be wondering how a six-year-old was able to read and comprehend all this ridiculousness, but judging by the experiences she's had, it wasn't completely nonsensical. Anyway, eventually, the six-year-old was found by a group of assholes that were part of the 'Mirai Koukan' or whatever, and they took her away from her cozy little apartment. They must have figured that the girl couldn't possibly have had anything to do with the guy's death. Or maybe he decomposed beyond recognition before they got there.

Anyway, as they did this, the girl made sure to keep the letter hidden. Unfortunately for her, she started taking on the features of someone who seemed to be a major enemy of the organization. This was cause for further inquiry, and after running a few tests, this girl was found to pose a serious threat to them. Fortunately for her, they didn't lock her away in a tower like some tragic princess. Instead, she was sent to live with a family that could take care of her. The higher ups in the organization seemed to think that this would make a good 'nature versus nurture' experiment, since she was still young enough to be impressionable.

For years, she lived with this family, biding her time until she could decide what to do with herself. In that time, she decided to create a place for her to vent about feelings, frustrations, and whatever else she found amusing (although those tended to be less serious things, like television shows or musicians). This place took the form of a blog. The more she posted about the less serious things, though, the more people decided to follow her blog. At a point, she even learned that she could recommend just anything, and the next day it'd have a huge, new fanbase. Other blogs would post those things, following her example. They wanted to catch her attention, have what she had. They wanted to be like her.

Naturally, the girl laughed at them. What was the point of having so many people follow a blog? What would _that_ accomplish?

One later year, a group of 'Mirai Koukan' members decided to rebuild Kibougamine Academy again, this time adding more focus to having students become members of this organization, which now had international and governmental influences. Though, of course, they couldn't have Kibougamine without having their precious, talented students.

That was the year that she decided to ruin their little experiment. Before she was old enough to attend any kind of high school, she burned down the house in which she was forced to stay. But why would she stop at that? She didn't! At that point, she waited until the entire area was engulfed in flames. Huh, they could add that to the ruins they still hadn't rebuilt. Anyway, there weren't any casualties besides some small children and a couple of pets—nothing that couldn't be replaced—so the 'Mirai Koukan' thought their best bet was to cover the incident up. Seeing as no one was able to figure out who the arsonist was, it was written off as an unfortunate accident, and the organization kept their relation to the incident a secret.

Besides that, the first year of having this New Kibougamine Academy went off without a hitch. The main difference was that they had decided to terminate the 'Super High School Level Good Luck' title, although they didn't announce this publically yet. They still wanted to try to fix this child born of despair, and they integrated her into the 'Talent' class of the next year, under the title of 'Super High School Level Good Luck,' where, apparently, there was a detective that'd be able to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble. To be honest, this girl was surprised that they trusted her this much, even though they made sure she had no kind of hidden notes or weapons every single day before and after the school session. It was kinda sweet, how stupid they were."

Ryoko sighed, then turned to look at us. Is she trying to gauge our reaction or something? I'm pretty sure no one would know how to respond to a story like that…

"What? No 'that's bullshit' claims? No questions? You all are just going to accept this completely unrealistic backstory?" Ryoko questioned us, but didn't wait for an answer. "Then, it's a good thing I decided against lying to you! Otherwise, this would have taken up more time unnecessarily. ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ "

"Wait a second," I began, "Is this supposed to help us figure out your motivation or whatever?"

"That _was_ my motivation, Rin-tan~" Ryoko sang. "I just can't help it! All I'll ever be able to do is cause despair anywhere I go. I've been calculating this ever since the moment I finished reading that letter, although I might have eventually thought of something similar without its help. This is going to help you bastards guess at other shit, so I hope you were paying attention! (✯◡✯) "

"Uh…" Bunpei said.

"Yeah, moving on to 'where,'" Ryoko said. "As in, where the hell was my monitor whenever I was plotting? Doesn't matter! I wasn't stupid enough to make my actions so obvious. ┐(￣～￣)┌"

Jeez. Honestly, where the hell was this detective that was supposed to monitor her? They did a pretty shitty job, frankly.

"When? When was I planning on letting you bastards out? Never, actually," Ryoko revealed. "Also! Another important 'when!' When did the original incident take place? ｏ(＞＜；)○"

"That was over 25 years ago, wasn't it?" Bunpei asked. That's what I originally thought, but there's evidence that'd go against that.

"You've got that wrong, Bunpei," I responded. "Though, that was more than likely through no fault of your own."

"Nyuhuhu," Ryoko laughed as she held the Hanneko doll. "Why would you think it didn't happen 25 years ago, Rin-tan? (＃￣ω￣)"

"Because of someone I spoke to when we were trapped in the Future Foundation Building," I replied. "He couldn't have been much older than mid-thirties age, but he told me that he was part of the last class before the Despair Incident, and the first class to play this twisted game. If that did take place that long ago, he'd probably look (and be) closer to his fifties."

"Oh! Did your room also have a picture of a group of kids?" Tobiki asked me. "Hanneko said the ones in our room were mostly dead, but if there's a chance that they were the ones in the first 'game,' then him saying that they were mostly dead must have been in reference to that…"

"Raito! Light! Right!" Ryoko chanted. "Those guys were the first group of unlucky bastards. They also happen to be the idiots that started up New Kibougamine! ＼(≧▽≦)／"

"So… That means most of us…" Bunpei thought.

"Yep! Almost all of us were actually born during the period in which despair controlled everything!" Ryoko exclaimed. "Furthermore, this is only the second class to come back after Kibougamine reopened. Not sure if that was established already. :P "

"Figured as much, from your story," I said. Ryoko was in classes with us… Everything's still fuzzy, but I'm sure she was there. She was in those pictures, too…

"Wow! We only have two more questions before the last part of this exam," Ryoko cheered. "Good job, you lovable bastards! (^▽^人) "

We stared at her expectantly. Wasn't she going to make something up for "why"?

"Hmmmmm…. (←_←) " Ryoko hummed. "I kinda already asked 'Why did I do this?,' didn't I? Huh. I'm not sure what to say now… ,_, "

"Then let us ask why," Tobiki yelled. "Why did you decide to ruin our lives for the sake of your shitty game?! None of us had anything to do with the fact that you were mad at whoever you decided to blame for your miserable existence!"

"Ah?" The cat ears on Ryoko's hat perked up somehow. "Why you guys and not some other group of people? You guys can blame Rin-tan for that! o(≧▽≦)o"

Blame me? Tobiki and Bunpei turned and looked at me expectantly. Is she trying to say that I'm the one who decided on this class? I'd never… These guys were my… friends?

I forgot that our relationships in the present moment might have been different from how they were in school. But why would I want to put everyone through this game?

Because I hated them. I hated how happy they were. They seemed especially friendly with each other… Why wouldn't they ever treat me that way…? I hated how they were so charismatic and interesting… My own parents didn't even want to be around me, which is why they sent me away from them, even though I could have easily lived at my own house. We were close enough to the school. Although, I guess that made it easier for them to keep that secret from me…

No. I needed to stop thinking like this. It doesn't matter what they did, nothing these guys would do would warrant a death penalty. This… It must have been my fault…

"Snap out of it, you dumbass!" Bunpei yelled. Is he talking to me?

"But…" I mumbled. I hadn't realized until now that I began to look down.

"It's obvious that she's trying to turn us against you again," Tobiki remarked. But she's not really trying. I actually don't think she's too far off. These conflicted feelings must mean that I've disliked these guys at some point. But was my dislike really that strong?

"Besides," Tobiki continued, "Even if you did pick us for this, it must have been due to her influence, right?"

Her influence? Actually… Why would I start to hate everyone in that situation, but like them in this one? I'm still on the fence about that one, but I guess I need to snap out of it. I'm currently the most reliable source for information on Ryoko's ideas, so I need to calm down and finish this.

Man, I really hate these cheesy pep-talks I've been doing lately.

"Fine," I said. Ryoko smiled at me.

"Well, I guess I can't change beliefs too easily," Ryoko said. "These guys trust in you, even after all this. You really are one lucky bastard, Rin-tan! (⌒‿⌒)"

"Shut up," I commanded. "I'm guessing the 'how' you're going to present to us will ask how you were able to get away with this."

"Yepperoni pizza!" Ryoko said. "How did I manage to plunge the world into chaos again? How was I able to outsmart the Mirai Koukan once again?! How did I perfectly set up this deadly safe haven for Class 80? (＠_＠) "

"That reminds me," Bunpei said. "We still have the hints to go over. Hint five said that the mastermind had national and international influence. How did a kid like you gain national and international influences?"

"I can answer that," I chimed in. "On the first day here, Irina talked about a certain 'Neko-chan' having a ridiculously popular blog that could even put obscure names on the map. In addition, in her story, the blog was mentioned again. The internet is an easy way to connect with others internationally. It might even be easier to abuse that power than it would be to abuse government power."

"Right again, Rin-tan!" Ryoko called out. "If you don't mind, I'll take it from here. You see, guys… The world is full of idiots. These idiots are impressionable, and they don't think too far ahead to 'consequences.' If you have control over a group of idiots, you could basically take over—or destroy—the world! And it's a good thing these idiots will do anything to impress their favorite blogger, otherwise this might have never worked out~ (￣▽￣)/ •*¨*•.¸¸ "

"So…" Tobiki thought. "The end of the world was caused by a blog?"

"In a way, I guess so ┐(￣ヘ￣;)┌ ," Ryoko agreed. "It was the best way to create a bunch of 'isolated' incidents simultaneously while still influencing the entire world. Also, I just thought of another why! Why did I go by 'Ryoko Enoshima' earlier? Huh? HUUUUH?! (◕‿◕✿)"

"Isn't that…" I pondered this question. "I'm the one who first called you that here, but I'm not sure why…"

"Hm… Do you guys think I might have some sort of relation to the absolutely beautiful and perfect Junko Enoshima? The very first one to succumb so completely in body, mind, and soul, to despair? ….ε(*´･ω･)зﾞ" Ryoko asked us… kinda. I guess that's the only answer that makes sense. After all, having two likeminded psychos with the same name is a bit too much for a coincidence.

"Weeeeeelllllll, I'm not going to answer that（ ￣∀￣ )," Ryoko teased us. "I mean, what are the freakin' odds? I could have just chosen that name 'Enoshima' for myself, after all. v(￣∇￣)v "

"Then don't bother asking the question!" Tobiki snapped, to Ryoko's amusement.

"We need to let the viewers develop some of their own headcanons, Tobi-nyan~ (,,◕ ⋏ ◕,,) " Ryoko mewed. She kinda already answered it, though. I guess this is as good a time as any to bring this up.

"Hey, Ryoko," I began. "You've been mentioning 'viewers' and 'ratings' pretty carelessly."

She smiled widely. "You're right! Why do you think that is? d(=^･ω･^=)b "

"Hmph," I grunted. "Well, if I remember correctly, you once mentioned the original Mutual Killing incident being broadcast on international airwaves."

"True," she said with less excitement. "Except I wasn't able to hijack the TV waves, so it's just being broadcast live on my blog as well as a few popular streaming sites! In fact…" She looked at her ElectroID. "The view count is almost at one billion! That's about one fifth of the current world population! Σ(O_Oil!) "

"What the hell?!" Bunpei said this. "If there are so many people watching now, why hasn't anyone done anything yet?!"

"Don't be so selfish, Buns," Ryoko scolded. "Those people have their own problems to deal with! Some people not watching probably decided to continue with their destruction, so we decided to have anyone trying to cower away sit in rooms and watch this! Can't have anyone begin to develop 'hope' or whatever, so I'm making sure to show that there's nothing but despair! ^(｀ω´ )^ ψ"

Right. And what better way to do that than have symbols of hope destroy themselves from within?

"Also… As for how I outsmarted the Mirai Koukan again and again, that was due to Rin-tan's help! Couldna done it without ya, buddy! (○´ ∀｀○)ﾉ " Ryoko then began clapping. God, I hate her. In fact, I wasn't sure it was possible to hate someone so much until now. Still, I need to stay calm.

"And let me guess," I said. "The Future Foundation was able to catch on to the fact that you were beginning another Despair Incident. So, they had the bright idea of using the student hotel as a fortress for the people of New Hope's Peak. But it was destroyed before we got the chance to fortify it further, forcing them to go with the school instead."

"Yep!" Ryoko confirmed. "You guys were actually the ones to lock yourselves in here! Buuuuut, I had already anticipated that, which is why the NHP Committee Members were out of the picture for so long." Were?

"So… We trapped ourselves in here?" Tobiki asked incredulously. "What about the people outside?!"

"Like I said," Ryoko began. "The world's been plunged into despair. A bunch of them are probably dead, including family members and old friends. You might as well save yourself and stay in here after this is over. I might even have some footage from outside…"

"We're not interested," I said. There was still no guarantee that Ryoko was telling us the truth. At all.

"Upupu," Ryoko laughed. Bitch.

"Well, we've answered all your questions," Tobiki reminded Ryoko. We did, didn't we…

"And if this is a trial, the only way it could end is an execution," I said. "So, for the orchestration of the deaths of millions of people worldwide, and the unjust executions of almost all the kids here, you—"

"Nuh-uh-uuuh," Ryoko said. "We're not done here. Save your bloodlust for later, you precious little nuggets. ～('▽^人)"

Hmph. We're not fucking nuggets.

"In any case," she continued. "Rin-tan, you should know most of all why I'm not guilty for any killer's executions. ┐(︶▽︶)┌ "

I should? I wish she'd stop with this vague shit. But… That reminds me. I still don't know why the dead bodies of the culprits were separate from the victims… But killing them wasn't part of the plan…

"Wait!" I called out. "Out of all the executions seen, we never actually saw anyone die."

"… But Rin-chama…" Bunpei cut in. "We kinda did see… Actually…"

"Murai-kun… Although we saw him squished to death, there was no blood after his execution," Tobiki reminded us. "And in Ying's execution, she was dragged away into shadows…"

"Right," I confirmed. "Al—er, Yamamoto-san fell into a ravine too deep for us to see, Ido-san's 'death' was 'censored,' and Glasses's execution was never seen by any of us…"

"Then… We never actually _saw_ any of them die," Bunpei affirmed. "Is it possible…?"

"You're getting warmer~" Ryoko sang. What the hell? Then… Are they all alive?!

"Not all of them," Ryoko stated. "Don't get your hopes up, hehe. (ノωヽ) "

If not all of them… All of the people I saw… were culprits…

"Then, is everyone that killed someone still alive?" I asked. "Then, that'd mean Nezumi and Tougo—"

"Nuuuu," said Ryoko. "See, Rin-tan? You did what I literally just told you not to do. Nezumi Muon-nyan is dead. (/^▽^)/ "

"So…" I tried to ignore her comment about Nezumi. "… All the people I saw were executed…"

"You're right about that," she said. "Noticing a pattern? d(◕‿◕✿)"

"… Anyone that was executed is still alive?" I asked.

"Hai! All the hannins are still alive-desu! ヽ(* ◕ ∇ ◕*)ﾉ" Ryoko confirmed, acting more like she did on the first day. "I realized it didn't make sense to just leave this situation with a whole bunch of dead bodies, so I had the culprits 'executed,' then offered to give them back their lives on one condition…"

I wonder what that would be.

"THEY HAD TO COMPLETELY SUMBIT THEMSELVES TO ME! MIND, BODY, AND SOUL! Anyway, I'm so glad I decided to do this. I've got a boy and a girl with genius level IQs, an accomplished martial artist, a ruthless murderer, and… a lolita girl, I guess. Buuuuut, I'm upset that I didn't get to execute Ivanovich. Having a spy on my side would have helped create an unbeatable despair team! (｀ε ´ ) " Ryoko yelled unnecessarily. The fuck?

"Naturally, if they decided not to, they'd just stay half-dead," Ryoko finished. "I might even show mercy and just have some underlings kill them. ;9 "

"There's no way any of them decided to submit to you!" Bunpei declared, ignoring her last comment.

"Well, you're kinda right," Ryoko said. "They haven't made their decisions yet. ｀(^▼^)´↑ "

"Hmph. You guys are so gullible," Tobiki said. "Why should we believe that she has the power to do something like this? Bringing back the dead? Have we _really _stooped this low?"

"Nyuhuhuhu," Ryoko laughed. "Don't believe me, Tobikins?" After this, she used the weird remote thing she had earlier. The television descended once more, with footage showing the Future Foundation building. More specifically, it showed the room with Class 78's remaining members… Wait. The brown haired man just moved! One by one, the adults climbed out of their beds and removed the things keeping them down… A woman with glasses just fell over, and the teacher I saw earlier moved to help her… Well, they've probably been unconscious for months. It'll be hard for them to move easily…

"Those people were my test subjects for this system," Ryoko said. "They've just awoken, thanks to me. It's a good thing, too! Now the defect Hanneko dolls have toys to play with. (◕‿◕✿) " Ryoko pressed another button on the remote, and the door to the room opened, revealing several Hanneko clones that very closely resembled feral cats. Before we could see them enter, the television showed static, then cut off.

"HAHAHA!" Ryoko laughed. Again. "Let's see exactly how far they'd go to try to save you guys. Buuut, the defects are pretty violent. I hope they'll be able to finish playing in time. ❣◕ ‿ ◕❣"

I'd never known it was possible for someone to be so _evil._ It's almost impressive.

"… That's not proof of anything," Tobiki said stubbornly. Ryoko sighed.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You'd think you would have learned by now, Tobi-nyan, ヾ( ￣O￣)ツ" Ryoko sighed. Once more, she adjusted settings on that remote, then raised a pointed hand as if she were preparing to press one more button.

"Aaaaaaaand, as a reward for you guys doing so weeeeeellllllllllll," Ryoko said as she quickly pressed the button. One by one, the black and white pictures disappeared, and were replaced by… No way…


	35. Chapter Six: L'espoir

**Hello! School's finally over, and I finally finished the final part of the final trial of this story! Finally! XD**

**Thank you all so much for being patient with me, and even though this is the end of the final trial, I can't say just yet that this will be the end of the story, buuuuut that's to be revealed at a later time…**

* * *

><p>After a short period of time, we were staring at our deceased classmates.<p>

"Reboot initialization. Loading…" They chanted simultaneously. Suddenly, their faces took on more personality.

"Huh? Here again?" Ying Yanmei, the Super High School Level Survivalist, inquired.

"What? But Kotaka-san…" Nezumi Muon, the Super High School Level Phantom Thief, looked at her hands, then looked around the room. Her face froze when she saw me.

"Alright," said Jay, the Super High School Level Businesswoman. "What the hell is going on? I've got a few literal bones to pick with a couple of you."

"Was that some sort of nightmare?" Luka Kamishiro-Ivanov, the Super High School Level Spy questioned.

I noticed Bunpei looking around the room. He stopped once he saw who he was looking for.

"It's been a while, Furuda-kun," Ko Yamamoto, the Super High School Level Makeup Artist said to him. Bunpei didn't reply.

"…Tobiki…" Kenzo Tsukuru, Super High School Level Construction Worker, said gruffly. Tobiki seemed to be nearly in tears.

"Shinda Minna-san, konnichi wa," Ryoko took on her 'Neko-chan' persona once again as everyone turned to her. "Boku no hon no namae wa "Enoshima Ryoko-chan" desu~ Boku wa kono geemu no kuromago-sama! Soshite, saigo no gakyuu saiban e yokoso~ *･゜ﾟ･*(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･* "

"… No way," Tougo Hanai, the Super High School Level Interpreter, whispered as he looked at her.

"Hai way! Highway? Anyway," Ryoko rhymed. "Anyone glad to see me?"

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Alice Darlington—or, Tana Yamamoto—screeched as she ran to attack Ryoko. Unexpectedly, Ryoko just stood and giggled.

"HAHA!" Ryoko laughed. Tana then slowed down.

"You seem to forget, darling," she teased as she moved closer to Tana. "You're dead. All that's present is a holographic manifestation of your digitalized consciousness." She then stuck her hands through Tana's neck in a chopping motion.

"I didn't think you'd know any of those words," Shinobu Murai said.

"I think some of you are missing the bigger picture," Tamaki Yanaihara said. "There must be a reason we've all been summoned here."

"Honestly," said Irina Fujimori. "We're all dead, aren't we? Ryoko, why are you deciding to play God now?"

More confused mumbles and statements were made. Most of them were about what the hell might have been going on right now.

"Nyuhuhu," Ryoko chuckled as she glanced at us. "I just figured I'd reward the current survivors—Rin Nakauchi, Bunpei Furuda, and Tobiki Wakabayashi—by letting them see their dearly departed friends one last time."

"That's not quite true," Kotaka Ido said. "One of our classmates is missing."

"Ha! I knew you'd be the first one to notice," noted Ryoko. "Unfortunately, Yasushi Sugihara couldn't make it today. Seeing as all of your consciousnesses were loaded onto your ElectroIDs, and with his being destroyed, he's the only one excused from this final trial."

Kotaka stood completely still, but her expression gave her away.

"In any case, I still need to explain why you all are here," Ryoko continued. "A select few of you were chosen to have your lives renewed. Also, I've decided to add one more thing: I'm putting the fate of the three survivors in your hands! If enough people vote that they deserve to get out, I'll shut down the school and release them to the outside world, where they've got an estimated 10% chance of survival! If you guys decide that they should stay here, then they can stay safely in this building, buuut I'll make sure the people trying to get them out are killed. They can live out the rest of their lives like caged rats!"

"WHAT?!" The courtroom erupted in this simultaneous exclamation. Even Bunpei, Tobiki, and I were shocked.

"What the hell?!" Bunpei questioned. "What are you doing?"

"Shhhh," Ryoko shushed. "Don't worry. As long as you have faith in your classmates, I'm sure you won't regret their decision!"

Bunpei began to object, but then stayed quiet.

"Naturally, though," Ryoko spoke, "We need to make sure there's no bad blood between anybody, so we're going to do an exercise. Victims, decide now if you'll forgive your killers, starting wiiiiiiiiith…" Ryoko spun around, pointing at each podium. "You! Our first victim, Kenzo Tsukuru!"

Kenzo stepped back, as if Ryoko's pointer finger were about to hit him. Every eye in the courtroom turned to look at him.

"…" Kenzo's still a man of few words, I see.

"Still a man of few words, I see," said Tougo. Okay, what the fuck.

"Just a casual reminder," Ryoko began, "but if you guys take too long, I'll end up getting bored and completely shutting down the system. Then none of you dead bastards will get to come back~ (≧ڡ≦*)"

"Fine," Kenzo said. "Tobiki, on our first day here, I told you to leave this place and forget about me. But, it looks like if you do leave, you might end up getting hurt worse than if you had stayed here. I think it might be in the best interest of all of you to stay here."

"Ken-kun…" Tobiki whispered. It seemed like either way this trial goes, Tobiki would never forget Kenzo anyway…

"Shinobu Murai," Kenzo addressed the martial artist. "Although you significantly shortened my life, I hold no grudge against you, simply for the fact that you were only doing what I should have done. For that, **I forgive you.**"

"Aww, ain't that sweet," Ryoko interjected, earning irritated glares from both Kenzo and Shinobu. "Now, Shinobu-nyan, whatcha say? That you only meant well? Well, of course you did."

Shinobu looked at Ryoko as if he thought her to be an idiot, then proceeded to address Kenzo. "I believe that anyone that takes a life should be willing and prepared to have theirs taken. Furthermore, I'm assuming all of the culprits were presented with the same dilemma that I faced. If I am reawakened, I'll be forced to work under that villain."

"Don't let her influence your decision," said Kenzo. "If you want to go back, she can't possibly make you work for her."

"Nyuhuhu," Ryoko laughed as she narrowed her eyes mischievously. "He's right. No matter what choice you make, I can't _force_ you to work for me. But you'll probably be killed if you decide against me."

"Then it's basically pointless trying to go back," Kotaka noted.

"NO INTERRUPTIONS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!" Ryoko yelled, causing all of us to flinch. Well, damn. "As of now, the only thoughts that matter are those of Kenzo Tsukuru, Shinobu Murai, and a certain third party, nyuhu~"

I'm pretty sure we all know who this "third party" is. This person then sighed.

"Murai-kun," Tobiki began. "**I forgive you**. I won't hold a grudge against you for deciding to live, but we won't let Enoshima-san use you or anyone else."

"Yeah!" Ryoko added. "Like, you guys are totally going to all band together and fight against the totally evil akuma-like bad guy, right? HAHAHA!" I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single eye in the courtroom that wasn't shooting daggers at her at this point.

"Well, it's your choice in the end," Ryoko reminded him. Shinobu sighed.

"Fine," he said. "I'll go back, if only to make sure that you're defeated! There's no way we'll stay in this hell."

"Bruh, you guys have been extra cheesy today. What's up with that? Hamming it up for the cameras?" Ryoko teased us. For the most part, we were silent. She was a skinny, hideously dressed, almost childish-looking teenage girl. There should have been absolutely nothing intimidating about her, but you could almost see the tension emanating from some of the students. No one wanted to cross her. Hell, no one wanted to say anything to her for fear that she'd use it against him or her.

"I guess it's my turn now, if we're going in the order I think we're using," said Tamaki Yanaihara. Well, maybe I was the only one feeling that way…

"To those of you that survived this game, I applaud you for maintaining your innocence and your sanity," he began. "But if what I've seen and heard is true, it'd be counterproductive for you to leave here. If it matters, I think you should try to stay safe here."

I wanted to object, but I was almost certain that'd upset Ryoko.

"… TAMAKI-CHAAAAN!" Ying wailed. "I'M SOOOORRRRRYYY!"

"Please calm down," said Ryoko. "You're embarrassing yourself. Your family could be watching this at home… Oh, wait…"

Ying glared at Ryoko. With her face scrunched up from crying, her glare became scarier.

"Anyway, Ta—hic—maki-chan—hic," Ying addressed him as she tried to stop herself from crying. "I understand if—hic—you resent me—hic—so I won't—"

"That's enough, Yanmei-san," Tamaki remarked. "It wouldn't do any good to keep both of us dead."

"But—hic! I don't—hic—deserve—hic—"

"Yanmei-san," Tamaki said. "**I forgive you.**"

"Wait just one fucking moment!" Tana yelled shrilly. The act would probably be amusing in any other situation.

"Why should that cow deserve to get a second chance?! SHE KILLED FIVE PEOPLE IN COLD BLOOD!"

"Nyuhuhu. I didn't expect to hear that from someone who killed two of her friends," Ryoko teased her. Wait, what?

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Tana continued yelling. "When did I kill two people?!"

"Oh? But weren't you the culprit in the third case?" Ryoko questioned her. She was a culprit, but she only murdered Ko…

"Oh, wait," Ryoko stuck out her tongue and knocked at her head as if she realized she was wrong. "My mistake! I was just thinking about a different person. Still, you're not the third-party decision in this case, so I'd appreciate it if you'd shut up for now. Don't worry, your turn is coming up~"

You could almost see the condescension in her voice. But… that tone served as a bit of a reminder to me. When this entire ordeal started, we were just kids. Hell, we're still kids. For some of us, our chances at adulthood were stolen… I tried not to let my emotions show now.

"Then… Would the third party be me?" Irina asked. Ryoko snapped her fingers.

"Bingo!" She cheered. "Since Ying kinda messed you up in the process of planning her own escape, you also have to decide if you forgive her."

"Hmph," Irina said. "What good would forgiveness do? If she comes back here, that only means she's prolonging the inevitable."

She turned to address Ying, who had stopped whimpering when she realized Irina began speaking. Tears still fell from her eyes, though. "Ying, are you hoping to live a long, happy life? Maybe you're hoping you can move past the fact that you're a heartless murderer? Haha! That's pathetic."

Ying looked shocked. Actually, we all did. It seemed like Irina completely changed from when she first came here…

_But… Maybe she hasn't. It could just be my own fault for not noticing what's wrong with her, or the other kids._

"… Iri-cchi," Ying whispered. "I'm sorry for getting you mixed up in this mess, but there's no way in hell I'll let you psych me out!"

"Oh?" Irina asked. "So, you don't appreciate what I have to say? It shouldn't matter too much to you if you're going to decide to stay dead, though."

Ying froze. Compared to her laments during her trial and those of a few moments ago, it did seem somewhat contradictory…

"Could it be that you really _do_ want another chance?" Irina challenged. "Was your speech about not deserving to live just a bluff to try to earn sympathy? Even for you, that's surprisingly pathetic."

Wow. We've had several uncomfortably silent moments in this god-forsaken courtroom, but this one might just take the cake. Ying looked as if she were trying not to scream.

"Forget that!" Ying yelled. "I don't need any fucking sympathy! Now I want to prove that people are worthy of redemption! No matter how many bad things you've done in life, true regret and efforts to change oneself shouldn't be ignored!"

"So, you want to know that it's okay with me, right?" Irina questioned. "Well, either way, you can't make your decision until I make mine, can you? Fine enough. I'll humor you and say that **I forgive you.**" Irina looked at the other kids here, then at Ryoko. "So, I see the game went as planned."

"You bet your sweet biffy it did, Iri-nyan! =(^.|.^)=" Ryoko said. What the fuck is a biffy?

"I'm not done!" Ying interjected. "Blondie bimbo! There's no way I'm ever going to work under you! Naka-cchi and Wakaba-cchi and the rest of us are going to get the hell out of here and stop you!"

"Yeah, yeah, no need for the valiant spiel, I already expected this. In any case, let's continue," Ryoko commanded. "You! Plain Jane! It's your turn now!" She pointed at Ko as she said this. Ko all but blatantly refused to raise her head to look at her murderer.

"Hmph," Ko grumbled. "Alice-san, **I forgive you.**"

That was quick. Tana almost looked offended by how brief she had been.

"As _if_ I fucking need forgiveness from the likes of you!" Tana yelled. "I'd rather—"

Suddenly, she stopped. No one interrupted her. "I'd rather…"

It seemed like she was interrupted by her own tears…

"WAAAAH!" Tana cried aloud. Ko and Tamaki both seemed taken aback.

"Ko-chan! Tamaki-chan! _I'm so sorry!_" Tana wailed almost unintelligibly. "I don't deserve forgiveness from either of you!"

"I know," said Ko matter-of-factly. I don't think any of us expected Ko to respond in such a way. Tana looked at her in incredulity.

"You _know?!_" Tana asked. She looked so offended.

"Yes, Alice-san," Ko responded. "I agree that you don't deserve forgiveness. You took advantage of our trust—especially mine—and then tried to throw the others under the bus. It would be somewhat satisfying, as your victim, to see you deprived of something you so desperately craved. Something you craved enough that you'd have more than ten people die in the process. But that would just make me a petty person. So, before I had a chance to change my mind, and for the sake of our old friendship, I decided to forgive you. Consider yourself lucky." Ko reluctantly smiled a narrow smile.

Wow. Even Ryoko didn't know what to say to this revelation.

"As for the rest of you… I think you all deserve the chance to live on outside. I know that several things on the outside may be going wrong, but I have faith that all of you can overcome them. Please be sure to fix the problems that Enoshima-san caused and create a world fit for everyone to live happily," Ko told us. Those are some pretty high expectations, but considering everything that's happened here, I'm not sure anything outside could scare me much more. Furthermore, I think she has one last person to address…

"Furuda-kun," Ko decided to acknowledge Bunpei. "Thank you for talking with me. I really appreciated having the chance to become your friend in school and again here. It's too bad this might be our final meeting, though." She smiled sweetly as she finished saying what she had to say.

"… Ko-chan…" Bunpei seemed to be at a loss for words.

"… I'm proud of you," Bunpei finally decided to say. "And Tana-chan, I guess I kinda gotta say that **I forgive you.** See ya on the other side, kid."

"Which side are you referencing?" Tamaki asked.

"Whatever side he means, I still haven't cast my vote," Tana remarked. "I think, for our sakes, we should stay in here. It doesn't make any sense to venture out into the unknown, then get ourselves killed like a bunch of idiots."

"Is that your final decision? Okay!" Ryoko didn't even give Tana a chance to respond. "Next up, we have Sugi—oops, hehe. Next up, we have the victims of this game's most deadly case!"

"Tch," Kotaka said. That was probably in response to Ryoko's earlier correction. "Since there are only three of us left over from that case, is it safe to assume there won't be a third party?"

"I dunno," Ryoko responded. "Buuuut probably not. One last person will have to make one influential decision in the last case's discussion!"

"Alright then," Kotaka continued. "I'd appreciate it if you don't interrupt this time, Enoshima."

"Nyuhu," Ryoko laughed.

"Well, Mouse-chan, **I completely forgive you!**" Luka said.

"Huh?" Nezumi asked. "Why me? I'm not the one who's gonna get out."

"True, true," Luka added. "But this way, you now know that there's no bad blood—or any blood, I guess—between either of us."

"Heh. I see you still haven't changed any," Nezumi said. "But Kotaka-san… You have to prove you're worthy of forgiveness!"

Kotaka's face twisted into an offended frown. "_Me?!_" Kotaka asked. "If anything, you should be the one begging for our forgiveness! You killed two of us, then almost managed to kill me!"

"Either way, it hasn't done either of us much good, has it?" Nezumi said. Well, she's kinda right. Both of them are dead, either way. Well, in a quasi-literal sense.

"In fact, you should be thanking me for not succeeding!" Nezumi remarked. "If I had, then you wouldn't have the chance to go back!"

Somehow, Kotaka's frown became more twisted. "_Do you _honestly_ think I wanted to return this way?!_" Shit. We managed to avoid major arguments so well up until now.

The two girls kept arguing and yelling at each other. I can't believe Ryoko would decide _now_ to listen to a command from Kotaka.

"Anyway," Nezumi said, seeming to have calmed down. "**I forgive you. **I was probably going to from the beginning, to be honest."

Under normal circumstances, I'd be worried about the vein on Kotaka's forehead bursting. "THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU START THIS ARGUMENT?!" Kotaka yelled.

"In any case, I realize it was indirectly my fault you wound up in this mess, so I won't hold a grudge," Nezumi decided. Kotaka was stunned.

"… I'm sure Yasushi would forgive you, too," Kotaka responded, her voice just barely shaking. "Be sure to tell him hi when you get to wherever you're going."

A pause. "Sure thing," Nezumi smiled sadly. She must realize what it means for Kotaka to say this…

"Also, I think I can confidently say that your secret is safe in this room, Muon," Kotaka stated. Uh… I looked to Bunpei and Tobiki, mentally pleading with them not to say anything.

"Nyuhuhu," Ryoko laughed. Surprisingly, she didn't say anything, either.

"Furthermore," Kotaka continued, "I certainly won't be staying here. I'd much rather go out and fight than be at your mercy, Enoshima."

"Pfft," Ryoko said. "It's all good, Taka-nyan!"

"It's my turn now, right?" Jay asked. "If so, let me start by saying that I truly, sincerely hope you go to hell, Ryoko. Not only are you a two-faced, backstabbing bitch, but you were generally a pretty shitty friend."

"Eh. I understand. I'll have to take the throne some time," Ryoko responded with a shrug of her shoulders. No arguments there.

"Second, you four-eyed bastard, since you killed me and tried to sacrifice the others, there's no fucking way—"

"Hold your horses, Jay-chan~" Ryoko cooed. "The person whose life is in your hands isn't Hanai. It's your bestest friend here, Irina-chan~"

Jay's expression softened as she turned from Tougo to Ryoko, then to Irina. "Iri…" Jay whispered. "Why her?"

"She's the one who _really_ betrayed you, Jay-chan," Ryoko explained. "Tougo killed you by accident, so he's really not deserving of any of your animosity. However, Irina willingly sacrificed your life to help me finish this game quite nicely, fufu. If you think about it, it's really her fault, isn't it?"

Jay frowned. I've never seen her as sad as she looked now. Irina didn't look at her.

"Do I get any say in this?" Tougo asked.

"Nope," Ryoko answered. "So, I'd appreciate if you kept your mouth shut, since you were doing so well earlier! ^.^" No arguments there, either.

"Huu," Irina sighed. "I don't care if I go back, and I understand if you won't—"

"**I forgive you**," Jay interrupted. "I see now that you regret your decision, and as a good Chiristian woman, I can't hold a grudge and expect to go where I want to."

For some reason, there really seemed to be several things wrong with that statement.

Jay continued speaking through my small aside. "Plus, as was said before, there's no sense in me trying to keep you down if it won't help my situation. Just don't pull any shit like that again."

Irina was silent and avoiding making eye contact with Jay.

"Sooo? Iri-nyan?" Ryoko spoke. "What's your decision? Gonna stay and work under me? Gonna try to run away like these other losers? Upupupu! Either way, you still won't be happy." Irina didn't respond to her, either.

"Oh, well~" Ryoko sang. "I already know—"

"Shut it, Ryoko," I yelled. "Literally everything that led to this outcome is your fault!"

"Haha!" She laughed. "_Everything?_ Pushing all the blame on me, huh, Rin-tan? I guess that's understandable. Denial is a common coping mechanism, after all."

"I'll have to agree with Nakauchi," said Tougo. "If anyone deserves to shoulder the blame in this situation, it's you."

"Haaaaah?! You? _Agreeing? __**With Rin-tan?!**_" Ryoko questioned with exaggerated incredulity.

"Well, that isn't exactly unexpected," Bunpei chimed in. "After all, they did work together a lot…"

"Yeah," said Luka. "Plus, they spent a lot of alone time together, didn't they? Hehe, you sly dogs!"

"No one asked for your input!" Tougo snapped at a mischievously grinning Luka.

"Okay, forgetting the last few statements, what would be so surprising about that?" I asked, trying not to let my voice shake. "I'm pretty sure we all would agree that this is your fault!"

Concurring murmurs arose from most of the other students.

"Quiet, please." Ryoko commanded. "And as for why it'd be so surprising, Rin-tan? He was the one who accused _you_ of being the puppetmaster, not to mention being fully prepared to sacrifice your life _twice. _Am I wrong?"

… She wasn't. But still… He… Tougo was just… Actually, I can't really think of a defense for him. Oops.

"Furthermore," Ryoko continued, "Isn't it possible he's just trying to get on your good side right now?"

"Why the hell would that matter to me _now_?" Tougo questioned. "If anything…"

Silence.

"Hu? Could it be?" Ryoko asked. "You've realized, haven't you?"

"Realized what?" I didn't get it. "What? Why would he need to…"

"Hu, seems that you've noticed as well," Ryoko teased. "Everyone! You've all been wronged either directly or indirectly by someone in this room. Still, you all managed to put aside your differences and forgive each other in your mutual interests of defeating me or something. However, not all has been forgiven among everyone. There may still be some bad blood between a certain pair of vitriolic friends."

"So… What you mean to say is—"

"That's right!" Ryoko cheered, interrupting Shinobu. "Rin-tan, you're going to have to decide if you're truly willing to forgive Tougo-kun!"

"Huh?" Tobiki spoke up. "Why would it just have to be Nakauchi-san? Furuda-kun and I—"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna stop you before you say something unnecessary," Ryoko added unnecessarily. "You and Buns have already decided to forgive the culprits that wronged you. Rin-tan still needs to forgive the person that wronged her~"

I looked at Tougo, seeing if I could guess his thoughts from his expression. I'm guessing he had the same idea, since he had also turned to look at me.

"Hmph," he grunted. "In any case, there's no way I'm going to beg you for my… Wait a second. Rin?"

"… Go on," I said. I was hoping he would ignore the tears that I attempted to stifle. I guess I wouldn't be that lucky, anyway. The courtroom, once again, became silent.

"Go on, I said!" I should have known that yelling wouldn't help this situation, either. "Say how you're not going to beg me for your own life. Say how, at this point, I've already caused enough damage to make my forgiveness worthless. That's what you really want to say, right? Isn't that why you so vehemently tried to have me executed as the mastermind?"

"Rin…" Nezumi called out to me, but stopped when she realized I wouldn't respond to her.

"Isn't it?" He didn't respond to my questions. Well, not verbally, anyway.

"Oy! New—eak-cadem—remain—Class—8—"

Huh? Our attention was captured by the screen in the courtroom. Static on the screen and in the audio interrupted the speaker. Hey, who is that?

"New Hope's Peak Academy's remaining members of Class Eighty! Can you hear us?" The sound of three unfamiliar voices speaking in unison managed to destroy the notion that we were, at that time, isolated from the rest of the world.

"Haaah," Ryoko sighed. "I guess those bastards won the game against my Hanneko dolls. So, what do you guys say? Wanna hear these guys out?"

"Uh…" Ko began. "Exactly… Who are these people?"

Static. A few moments after Ko said this, the screen cleared completely to reveal who was addressing us. I knew who all of them were, but two that I saw during this game stood out.

"Makoto Naegi-san? And… Asanuma-sensei?" I inquired.

"Hey, Rin-kun! Stop getting my name wrong!" The tanned woman commanded. Oops.

"Gomen nasai, Asahina-sensei," Ryoko apologized in a sweetly, extremely suspicious way. "Kedo, you know that Rin-chan wasn't really too good with some names~"

"Ryoko Enoshima," said a blond man with an especially irritated look. "As I predicted, your lack of originality would lead to you revealing your identity this way."

"Hora, that's very hidoi for you to say, Byacchan. Even evil kuromago-sans have feelings," Ryoko responded. This nickname very obviously did not bode well with him.

"You two, can you please stop getting us off track?" Makoto Naegi addressed the other two visible adults in the feed before turning to address us. "Nakauchi-san! Furuda-kun! Wakabayashi-kun! Are you three alright?" He then asked us.

"I'm not sure how we're supposed to answer that," Tobiki stated. He's got a pretty valid point. Clearly nothing going on was "alright."

"Eh, maybe I should have worded that differently," Naegi decided. "In any case, we need you three to hang tight for just a few more minutes!"

"Hey… Rin-chama? Who are these people?" Bunpei asked.

"They're… they're members of the New Hope's Peak Executive Committee," I responded. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what their group's called, but that sounded about right.

"That's true," Asahina-sensei confirmed. "But what wasn't mentioned was that this was a subset of the Future Foundat—"

"That's sounds like an introduction to backstory information that we don't have time for in this story, sorry~" Ryoko interrupted quickly.

"Hey! Weren't they about to say something pretty important?" Tamaki asked.

"Eh, it's not going to change the course of this story much, so it's no big deal," Ryoko said. "Plus, I kinda already addressed some of it, so it doesn't matter."

"Can we stop wasting time?" I asked.

"My sentiments exactly, Nakauchi-kun," Makoto Naegi concurred. "Just hang tight! We're working on getting you guys out of there at this moment."

"Oy! Komaru Naegi! Did you manage to take down the system yet?" The blonde man spoke to someone behind them. A slightly whiny voice answered him.

"I'm trying! Sorry, but my head still hurts, so it's harder to remember how the coding went…" The woman called Komaru responded.

"Hey, Togami-kun! She's trying her best, so stop getting mad at her!" Asahina-sensei yelled at the guy called Togami.

"I'm not getting mad at her! But now definitely isn't the moment for her to forget her training," Togami snapped back.

"Heeeey, aren't you guys kinda trying to rescue these bastards and foil my evil plans or something?" Ryoko asked them.

"That plan's already in progress," Makoto Naegi assured her.

"Good!" She responded before playing with that remote again. Almost as unexpectedly as it came on, the screen was shut off.

"Well, I think that's enough for now. After all, we kinda need to finish this trial before we finalize anything, don't we?"

"Or you could let us out now," Kotaka stated.

"Anyway! Several of you still have yet to make actual decisions, so we can't really move on," Ryoko stated, seeming to grow more irritated by the minute.

"Forget it! None of us are going to work under you!" Kotaka yelled.

"Yes! Even if you were to kill us all, we wouldn't submit to you!" Shinobu exclaimed.

"Uh… Maybe killing us won't be necessary…?" Ying chimed in.

"Hey! We don't know how the others feel about this," Ryoko said.

"I'm in agreement with them, of course! None of us would stoop so low as to beg the likes of you for anything," Tana added.

"Naturally, I'd agree with literally anything you disagree with," Tougo responded.

"Aww. Well, we still need to hear from the people that actually _are_ alive. Furthermore, a certain someone still hasn't resolved her conflicts," Ryoko said, looking at me.

"Forget it! I'm not going to humor you," I responded. Thankfully I managed to calm down a bit from earlier, so I could have been taken seriously.

"Aaaah, that's too bad," Ryoko responded. "So, no one's gonna come over to my side?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" We yelled in unison. Ryoko sighed.

"Haaaah, fine," Ryoko said before playing with the remote one more time. None of us realized what would happen until sudden screams of pain resounded in the courtroom.

"AAAGH!" Shinobu wailed as he fell to the floor. Ying turned to face him.

"Shinobu? What's wr-AAARGH!" Ying screamed as she tried to grab her arms. Unfortunately, they went limp at her sides. Alice grabbed her stomach as Tamaki tried to run over to her.

"… Jay? Ri-kun? Where…" Irina howled when she realized what had happened to her. Jay's face contorted as if to indicate that she was feeling the same pain Irina felt.

"Irina? I'm right here! Irina!" Jay ran to Irina as she fell to her knees.

"I… I can't…" Her thought trailed off as she began crying.

"What the hell did you…huh?" Kotaka yelled. She wound up interrupting herself, though.

"Hehehe! Don't worry, you're still speaking. Although, I guess you wouldn't know that _or_ what I'm saying," Ryoko confirmed. Without us realizing it, Bunpei walked over to her and grabbed at the collar of her shirt.

"You! What are you doing to them?!" Bunpei yelled as he raised her up by her shirt, choking her in the process.

"Furuda-kun! No!" Tobiki yelled as he walked over to him. For some reason, Tobiki's urgency didn't feel as convincing.

"No! Stop it, Furuda-kun!" Ko yelled. Unlike Tobiki, she looked visibly upset. Bunpei only seemed to let up a little bit at this, but that didn't manage to stop him.

"What. The hell. ARE YOU DOING?!" Bunpei inquired once again.

"She can't answer you if you're choking her, Furuda-kun," I stated matter-of-factly. Reluctantly, he looked at the three of us, then dropped her.

"That… Was hidoi!" Ryoko croaked, trying to catch her breath. Bunpei just glowered at her.

"Ahem," Ryoko coughed. "In any case, did you killers _really_ think I would let you oppose me and go unscathed? I was running out of ideas for what I could take away from you that would hurt, but I managed to come up with such a creative solution!"

"You're an absolute cow," Kenzo stated.

"Pfft, no need to be so polite," Ryoko retorted. "Hm…"

"HEEEEEY," Ryoko yelled obnoxiously. "Isn't there someone from whom we have not heard a single complaint? Isn't that absolutely strange and out of character for said person?"

She's obviously trying to divert our attention, but now that she mentioned it, it did seem weird that a certain someone stayed quiet. I turned to look at him, but as it turns out, he was complaining. He just wasn't being vocal…

"Uh… Hold on," I said. "Glasses, why aren't you saying anything?"

He glared at me and held on to his throat. He seemed to be coughing, but any sound he made was muffled. Any speaking he tried to do didn't come out at all.

"… Wait…" Ryoko wouldn't.

Yes she would.

"Well, I would love to stay and chat with you all, but I'm gonna send you guys off. System's shutting down for now!"

"Wait!" I yelled, but it was too late. In a pixelated blur, Kenzo began to fade away.

"Ken-kun!" Tobiki yelled. He seemed to be at a loss for what to say.

"Remember what…" He began before fading away completely. Upon realizing what was happening, the losing students scrambled and yelled to voice their final goodbyes.

"Tobiki Wakabayashi," Shinobu called out to him from on the grouund, his voice already being interrupted by static. "I wish you the best. As with everyone else." He's faded away. Judging from everyone's expressions, it's starting to hit some of them that this is it. We won't be speaking to each other again in this lifetime… But that's a pretty depressing thought.

"Again, everyone, thank you," Tamaki said. "I hope leaving this system will help me remember our times together. I'm going to miss you, Alice-san!" Tana glanced at him, her face streaked with tears for some reason.

"Tamakiiiii!" Alice wailed as she watched him disappear.

"Well… I don't want you guys to give up!" Ying said. It wasn't hard to figure out that she could only be addressing those of us that would get out alive… Somehow, watching her fade away wasn't as saddening, since we knew she'd be back.

"Thankyouguysforbeingsonicetome!" Ko exclaimed quickly. Once she realized that she wasn't gone yet, she turned to Bunpei, smiled the brightest smile I'd ever seen her give, then waved goodbye to him. Bunpei forced a smile and waved back.

"Well, I guess it's my turn," Tana said before Ko had even finished leaving. She paused once she realized the spotlight was on her.

"… I'm sorry, everyone," she mumbled as she glanced over at Ko. In response, Ko smiled at her before completely fading away.

"That's unexpectedly nice of you," Irina muttered, not looking at anyone in particular. I agree.

"Although I'm less sorry to Rin," Tana finished quickly before she faded away. For some reason, I couldn't help but want to laugh.

"Well, it looks like we're finally going to escape together, Nezumi-chan," Luka said to Nezumi. Somehow, this seemed more sincere than what his earlier failed plan let on. Nezumi's expression softened as she watched him pixelate away. Jay just "hmph"ed at them. Wait, Nezumi!

"Nezumi!" I yelled. "Thank you for being my friend!" Nezumi turned to me and smiled.

"No need to thank me, Rin-chan," she said as she herself began to fade. "Just be sure to open up a bit more! Also—"

Static interrupted her, but not enough that I couldn't hear the words "I knew it" from her podium. Heh, she definitely didn't.

Kotaka didn't seem to know exactly what we were doing, but she decided to speak up before it was too late.

"Don't give up!" Kotaka commanded.

"Didn't Ying already say that?" Jay asked before realizing the reasoning behind the repeat. Since she couldn't hear us, I waved "goodbye" to her. A few of the remaining students decided to follow suit. Something that seemed like a smile almost creeped up on her face, but she was gone before any of us could confirm.

"Tougo!" Jay called out to him. "Be sure to take care of Irina for me." Tougo nodded to her before she began to fade.

"Also, Rin! You need to do a better job monitoring others…" Her voice slowly lowered in volume as she left completely. Well, I guess she wouldn't realize _that _wasn't completely my fault.

"Haha," Irina laughed as she began to disappear. "It's as if she doesn't think I can take care of myself…"

She was gone. What a cryptic way to leave… Well, I guess she would be seeing the rest of us sometime, so there really isn't much for her to say…

"Hora, Rin-chan!" Ryoko interrupted my thoughts. "You're missing your chance!"

What chan—no! I turned to find Tougo, but he was almost gone. As he faded, it was harder to see him.

"Wherever you are, eat shit!" I yelled. "I've got several things to say to you when I see you again, and now you won't have any choice but to listen."

I sincerely hope my feelings went through to him. Bunpei had walked from his podium over to mine and placed a hand on my shoulder. Tobiki also left his podium and walked to a spot behind us.

"So," I said. "It's over, Ryoko. You're stuck here with the rest of the survivors."

"Furthermore," Tobiki said, "this trial has been wrung dry. There are no more tricks you can pull to throw us off track."

"But wait," Bunpei said. "What if she tries to do another fake execution on herself?"

"Damare, Buns," Ryoko spat. "Why would I do something so _stupid?_ I'm not interested in being apprehended by those Future Foundation bastards without even having a fighting chance! Or worse, having my body left to be handled by you disgusting, depraved bastards. ( ≧Д≦)"

"As if any of us would stoop that low!" Bunpei yelled in disgust.

"Besides her obvious attempt to throw us off track," I began, "there's nothing else you can do. Face it, Ryoko. You've been cornered. You're the only person that can be named the true culprit behind this game, and the Future Foundation members are coming here to retrieve us. It'd be in your best interest to give up now."

"Ooooh, I'm shaking in my boots," Ryoko taunted me. "Those are some big words for such a shitty protag."

Shitty protag?!

"Anyway, just because you don't know my tricks doesn't mean I have none left, Ryoko stated before taking out that remote. Again.

"Furthermore," she said. "Isn't it only appropriate that a break from school would follow the final exam? In a few minutes, school will be 'dismissed,' huhu. =(^.|.^)= "

"Who gives a shit if this were some sort of 'final'?!" Tobiki yelled.

"Ah. I guess we'll have to skip that voting. Honestly, I didn't see it working out to any of our advantages, so skipping was probably the best choice. One more student still needs to fade away before we can finally leave," Ryoko seemed to be talking more to herself than anyone at this point.

"Huh? Who?" Tobiki asked.

"Oh, no! We didn't save Rin-chama in time from that execution, Tobi!" Bunpei exclaimed. "I'm sorry, Rin-chama!"

"Rin's still alive, dumbass," Ryoko said before turning to look into a nearby camera. "I was talking about me. So, then, until next time on Despair-Happy Havoc TV, Tootles! ٩(*ゝڡ◕๑)۶ "

Ryoko pushed a button on her remote one last time before it fell to the ground, the original wielder completely gone in a flash. Soon afterwards, the effects in the courtroom were also gone. We were in a gray, concrete room now.

Wait. What?

"What?" I asked. What? WhatwhatwhatwhatWHAAAAAAAAAT?! Why?! How!?

"That dirty cheater!" Bunpei yelled. What?

"Huh? The floor's lifting up again," Tobiki pointed out. Wha…?

"GET ON!" Two amplified female voices called out from above, in what I guess is the gym… Wha…

Bunpei pulled me along as he and Tobiki ran to the logo. I… I don't understand… She was definitely in there… There's no way she could have left…

"Rin Nakauchi!" A woman I recognized as being Kyouko Kirigiri called my name. A brunette woman that I did not recognize went to speak to Bunpei and Tobiki.

"I… let her get away…" I whispered.

"No," Kirigiri-san explained. "You didn't. She planned this. There was nothing…"

Nothing I could have done? She didn't finish, but pulled us along to the gym's exit. She didn't finish because she knew that wasn't true…

"Wait a second," Bunpei began. "I have a question."

"Then ask it!" The brunette snapped. Bunpei raised his arms halfway to show that he meant no harm and wanted none.

"Do you guys know who's in charge of this school?" Bunpei asked. "And if so, why the hell did they let the daughter of such an evil person into this school?"

"Daughter of an evil person?" Kirigiri-san asked. "What, you mean Nakauchi-san?"

_WHAT?!_

"No! I'm talking about Ryoko," Bunpei responded as he glanced at me warily. Great, I'm still a suspicious character.

"Ryoko's parents are unknown," the brunette stated. "Furthermore, Ryoko was not _let in._ We kept her under surveillance at all times and tried to keep her from causing more problems. Unfortunately, that did not work."

"But that's not right," Tobiki said. "She was the daughter of the first person to orchestrate this game, wasn't she? I mean, they look almost exactly alike…"

"I see what's going on here," Kirigiri added, "and I want you to think about who told you that."

Tobiki opened his mouth to protest, then closed it once he realized what she meant. Wait… Then if that's true… Do we really know what's going on? Actually, why did we believe that ridiculous story at all?

* * *

><p>This… This is all a joke, right? We managed to get out of that courtroom… We're here, being escorted by two defeated-looking adults to the office of the school… Wait. Why are we being brought to the office?<p>

"Um…" Tobiki began. "Isn't the exit in the other building? The one you guys left?"

"W-what is this one t-talking ab-b-bout?" The brunette lady asked Kirigiri-san.

"There are several sealed-off exits all around this school," Kirigiri-san confirmed. "We did notice the one you're asking about, but that's nothing but a decoy."

"What?" I asked. "Are you serious…?"

"I thought you might have remembered _that_, Nakauchi-san," Kirigiri-san explained. Remembered what?

"I see you'll need a hint," she said. "Did you ever consider why the bottom floor of that building is significantly darker and dirtier than the other floors?"

"Uh… no…" I responded dejectedly. But why would it matter if the bottom floor were dirtier and darker…

"Wait a second," I mumbled. "That wasn't the first floor. It was a basement."

"Precisely," Kirigiri-san confirmed. "My guess is that Ryoko wanted to throw you guys off in finding the exit. The opposite end of that door should just be the hallway that leads…"

We walked to a door situated diagonally from the main office. Kirigiri-san and the brunette woman opened it first.

"…. Here," Kirigiri-san finished her earlier statement. Surely enough, a clean metal slate sat at the opposite end of the room. Apart from the light coming into the room from the door we had just opened, this room was completely dark.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second," Bunpei spoke. "If this room leads directly to that creepy building, then does that mean…"

Oh. My. God.

"Yes, Furuda-kun," Kirigiri-san began. "Each of these rooms is a hallway leading to an adjacent building."

"No!" Tobiki yelled. "It can't be! Where would the entrance _or_ the exits even be?"

"I'd think you'd have a pretty good idea of the secrets behind this design, Wakabayashi-kun," stated Kirigiri-san. "We commissioned a team to help design a school that was nearly impossible to enter. Only those who should have been here would know that. In hindsight, creating the school in such a way was probably a horrible idea, but I guess our overconfidence is to blame for that."

"That doesn't answer the question of where the exit is!" I exclaimed. Damn it all!

"C-calm down," the brunette commanded. "We need you guys to stay with us for a while to confirm some things."

"NO!" Tobiki yelled again. "Please! Just let us out!" At this point, tears began flowing heavily from Tobiki's eyes again. Bunpei's eyes began to take on similar characteristics.

"Tobiiiiiiiii! Stop crying, damn it!" Bunpei cried. Noting this, I decided to act as an envoy for what was left of Class 80.

"Please," I whispered. "I'm sorry, but we've been stuck here for longer than we'd like. If not all of us, at least let these two leave." I hoped that this pleading would somehow get through to them. The brunette looked as if she were prepared to protest, but stopped soon after glancing at Kirigiri-san, who sighed in resignation.

"Fine," Kirigiri-san conceded. "It'd probably be best if you three stayed together. However, Nakauchi-san, I'd like to have your help as soon as possible. We're going to need all the help we can get in order to find Ryoko and her cohorts. We still don't know exactly how long it's been since she vacated the school, and the technology she acquired is enough to mess up all of our senses. Even though I doubt it, it's even possible that she was not here at all."

I doubt it, too. Ryoko was here. I don't know when she disappeared, but she was definitely here.

"Alright," I decided. "I'll come out to search tomorrow. Right now, we just need to get out."

Kirigiri-san nodded. "I underst—"

"Hold it!" Bunpei interjected. "If Rin-chama's going to be coming back here to investigate, then so am I."

"Furuda-kun?" I said. That was somewhat unexpected.

"So will I," chimed Tobiki. "As you said, we should stay as a group."

"Hm? I did say that, didn't I…" Kirigiri noted. "Now that I think about it, having you guys return here at all will probably take more of a toll on your health…"

"So… are we coming back or not?" I asked.

"No," Kirigiri-san decided. "After you three receive the proper training, you'll search the perimeter. We'll have other agents assist in here. Fukawa-san, please show these three the exit."

"Fine," the woman called Fukawa agreed. She cut past us out of this room and to the elevator. The three of us didn't need to hurry to follow her.

"We d-don't have an-ny time to waste," she stuttered. "Komaru's work-king to k-keep this place going en-nough to keep those guilty students alive, so I need to go back to help as soon as possible…"

"I should warn you," Fukawa said. "This place is probab-bly pretty disgusting… It's probably been months since it was cleaned."

"What place?" I asked. I would assume the next "place" would be "outside."

"You'll see," she said as she stepped inside the now-opened elevator. The others walked past me to enter. I stopped walking because I had almost forgotten something.

"Wait, Kirigiri-san!" I called to her. She was preparing to enter the office door that Naegi-san had opened for her. I power-walked to her and reached for the spectacles atop my head.

"Here," I said as I handed them to her. "I won't be returning here soon, so can you please take these? One of the culprits might need them soon."

Kirigiri-san regarded the glasses in my hands, then looked to face me. A teasing smirk had almost formed before she caught on to what she was doing.

"Alright," she said. "I'll make sure he knows how he got them back."

Hm? "How do you know…" I began, then realized why my question was so silly.

"I also came to this school every day, Nakauchi-san," she replied. "I knew quite a bit about what went on here."

Without realizing it, a smile had formed on my lips. I can't really call it a happy smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. It wouldn't surprise me if Kirigiri-san knew everything. I waved to her as I made my way back to the elevator. Fukawa-san waited until I had reentered before closing the doors.

"Alr-right. Are we all d-done here?" Fukawa asked. Bunpei and Tobiki glanced at me (I guessed I've used up a bit too much of their patience), then shook their heads to indicate that we were all done here.

"Okay," Fukawa sighed. "Off we go…"

It didn't really feel like we were going off anywhere. I noticed Fukawa pushing certain buttons on the elevator's control pad.

"One… One… Zero three seven?" Tobiki read. "What's the meaning behind that?"

"Wha? There is none," Fukawa shot down Tobiki's question quickly. "It's just an old code that one of us came up with. Somehow, it stuck."

Before any of us could try to guess, we were suddenly knocked off balance, though we were able to hold on to the railing to keep from completely falling. Quickly, another building came into view. It was completely empty and dark, save for some holes in the roof letting light flow through.

"What's this…?" I asked as we walked on. Fukawa scoffed.

"It's the front that was used for the school," Fukawa answered. "We anticipated having to deal with curious wanderers and—

"Tchoo!" Bunpei sneezed, startling us.

"… Anyway," Fukawa continued, "this place was built to lead them off course. We added hallways and fake classrooms so that it didn't seem too suspicious. This is what people see when they look up at the school."

"Oh, yeah," Tobiki said. He rubbed one of his eyes, which only exacerbated the redness. "This place is on top of a mountain, isn't it?"

"Yes," Fukawa answered. "Several parts of the actual school were built further into it."

Oh… We walked on. I'm not sure how I felt about the fact that the exit was just on the other side of the elevator…

Once we reached the opening to the fake school, Fukawa extended her arm as a way of saying "stay back." Forcefully, she pushed open the door and shot out an electric flare with her Taser gun. I didn't think to ask exactly where that gun came from.

"Wait here. We'll have to move quickly after they catch the signal," Fukawa informed us. A distant _crash!_ sound made its way to our ears. A voice that sounded like Hanneko speaking through an intercom system repeated the words "Despair now! Despair for tomorrow! Despair for the unknown! Despair forever!" Soon afterwards, a burning smell made itself present. What exactly is going on out there?

"Shit," Fukawa mumbled.

"What? What's going to happen to us?" Bunpei questioned frantically. "We're going to be okay, right?!"

"Calm down!" Fukawa commanded. "I forgot about the air quality out here. We should be fine for a while as they get here."

Huh. Hopefully they've got gas masks, whoever "they" are.

"Fukawa-san! We got your signal," a tanned man with short black hair exclaimed as he broke down the doors. He didn't seem to be that much older than us, but something seemed wrong about calling him a boy. Something about him seemed familiar, for some reason. "We brought enough masks for everyone," he explained as he brushed some of the snow from his shoulder. Exactly what month is it again?

"If you brought even more than ten, it won't be necessary right now," Fukawa said solemnly as she motioned for us to move forward. "More importantly, did you bring a vehicle? And is that occult freak with you?"

"Of course!" The man confirmed. "And yeah, Haga's driving it. Hope you guys don't mind, but we'll have to sit by a bunch of weapons and junk. We might be forced to use them, so I hope you've already lost your morals in this place."

Without warning, Fukawa punched the man.

"Now's not the time for your shitty sense of humor," Fukawa scolded him. The man just sighed and turned to us.

"Heh, sorry about that," he apologized. "But in all seriousness, we need to leave soon, and we need as much manpower as we can muster against these things. Come on!"

"I'll stay here," Fukawa told him. "Ryoko escaped."

"Oh!" the man exclaimed. "Please do your best."

As it turns out, the source of Hanneko's voice was a blimp floating around in the sky. There was no basket, so my guess is that it's remote-controlled or automated. Following this exchange, we ran after him and climbed into the back of an armored vehicle that already had several dents in it. Yeah, that's not worrisome at all.

"Wait," I said as I stepped into the van. "How are you guys coordinating this?"

"Oh?" The tan man asked. "I went to try to find other Future Foundation members after I realized what was going on. Unfortunately, I was only able to find Haga and some other New Hope's Peak students."

"Other students?" Bunpei asked. "You mean there are more of us that are alive?"

"Eh… That's a lot of explaining that we don't have time for now," the man said hastily. "I'll tell you everything back at the base."

Honestly, his answers only brought up more questions. As he closed the doors, the three of us looked at our surroundings, then at each other. Is this… victory? Have we won?

… I'm not sure why I'd even ask such a ridiculous question. We haven't won a thing. Naturally, I wanted to change that. I grabbed one of the guns sitting on the floor near me as I opened the back hatch up again.

"Rin-chama! What the hell are you doing?!" Bunpei asked. I turned to face them, but didn't answer. My eyes met Tobiki's, and he grabbed another firearm, almost as if he knew what I had planned. Upon realizing, Bunpei's eyes looked to the Hanneko –themed blimp, then to us. He grabbed a weapon as well.

"Despair now!" The blimp chanted.

"You've…" I began, aiming the gun at it.

"Despair for tomorrow!" The recording continued.

"…Got…" Bunpei muttered as he slowly raised his weapon.

"Despair for the unknown!" The blimp continued its propaganda.

"That," Tobiki said as it finished its last statement, placing his finger on the trigger.

"Despair forever!" The recording finished.

"WRONG!" We shouted, but no one near us would hear it. The simultaneous gunfire drowned out any sounds that we made, and the loud burst that came from the blimp would let everyone farther away from us know. My only hope in that moment was that Ryoko knew we hadn't given up.

"Let's go," I said before the tanned man and "Haga" could come out and ask exactly what we were doing. Bunpei and Tobiki were already way ahead of me, though. Heh.

I looked to them one last time before stepping back in. The dejection that was on their faces just minutes ago had almost disappeared. Maybe this little rebellion-inciting act managed to give them a bit more… Hope…

Huh. Well, I know that's what it did for me.

"…Okay," the man said. "No more interruptions?"

"No," I stated firmly, placing a gas mask to my face. Well, no more from us, anyway.

* * *

><p><strong>Well? I hope you guys didn't hate this update too much. It seems kinda half-assed to me (but then again, so did the entire story), so I might do a massive rewrite sometime in the (pretty distant) future. Again, thanks to all of you for keeping up with the story, and I apologize for taking so long to post this chapter. Until later~ ;D<strong>


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